Dark Masters:The Saga Continues
by Bruce Banner
Summary: You thought the Dark Masters were finished, eh? Well you were wrong. Dead Wrong. The Dark Digidestined will prove it to you.
1. Default Chapter Title

Prologue:

Earth Date: August 31st, 2000

Digiworld Date: Somewhere in the middle of the year 6323 A.P. (After Apoclyamon.)

A porcelain teapot in the shape of a pink pig whistled shrilly, bringing the prostate form of a man, ancient in years, back to reality. He moved from his library where he had been browsing through his vast collection of comic books, into his kitchen with a small stack of them under one arm. Switching off the heat, he poured himself a steaming mug of tea into a large white mug emblazoned with red letters which spelled out, 'You the Mon!' He twirled his snow-white mustache and sipped his tea, still deep in thought. He felt, or at least, he thought he felt a disturbance . . . somewhere. The power of evil that had not been felt for . . . how long ago was it since the Digidestined had come to the Digital World? He frowned to himself, but for the moment, did nothing but contemplate. The pile of comic books remained untouched, at least for the moment. 

Halfway across the Digital World, in the ancient castle that had once belonged to the long-ago defeated Myotismon, a black shape slowly took shape in the large stone chair in the castle's immense library. Ages ago, in that very library, Myotismon had discovered the secret to opening the portal to the realm of Earth. In the throne where Myotismon, the peak of evil and power in his time, the darkness grew. 

It increased in size and color, until it took on a humanoid shape and was as black as anthracite. In a black flash, a being, not unlike Gennai with powers rivaling his own, appeared in the chair. He was Darkota, a being of pure evil. He stood perhaps five feet tall, with a long curling black mustache, with long bangs of black hair jutting out from his head like two horns. A short double-edged sword was at his side.

A sallow, pale white hand rose, and Darkota stroked his mustache a wicked laugh emitting from his thin lips. He gestured with his other hand, and a computer keyboard and monitor appeared to fold out of the side of the throne and come to rest in front of him. 

"All I have to do," he said, in an odd, sing-song voice, full of malice, "Is to reprogram a few key components. Then the Digital World shall be mine for the taking." He brought up a small map of the entire Earth on the computer screen before him, and entered a command into the keyboard. "Within moments I shall know the four hapless fools who shall become the new set of Digidestined." Four blinking dots, all situated in the state of Illinois over the country of America, appeared. Darkota laughed again and hit a single key on the keyboard. "I have only to wait," he said, his voice echoing in the large library. 

"So begins the end of the balance of good and evil in the Digital World. It is time for the forces of evil to take control once more." He sat back into his newfound throne, his eyes burning like smoldering coals. 

_Across a spectral barrier, in the realm called Earth . . . _

Jake McCain, a freshman at Springfield High, looked anxiously at the blue bulletin board outside of the Drama Office. He scanned the ten-person cast of the upcoming fall play, 'The Diary of Anne Frank', and then continued down the hall. He had not made the cut. The fluttering of butterflies in his stomach settled down. School had let out for a three-day weekend, but his mood was far from happy.

He cut across one of the large grassy fields that surrounded the high school, his thoughts momentarily filled with gloom. Ahead of him a game of football was underway, and behind him was a literal sea of students, which had exploded from the schools and was coming towards him: students finally let out into the warm sunshine after being tortured in dark dungeons underground and forced to learn pointless things of all sorts. 

Just as Jake had made up his mind to drown his sorrows with a few hours of Final Fantasy Seven, a terrific explosion of dark light erupted in the sky directly above him. As he recoiled from the light, something exploded out of the ground beneath his feet, tripping him up. He landed hard on the palms of his hands, and as shivers were sent up his arms from the impact, he rolled to his feet. 

Lying on the ground, perfectly smooth ground that did not look like anything had exploded from it, was a small, black, oval-shaped cell phone with a mini-computer screen on the front. Picking it up, full of questions, he suddenly noticed that the once active game of football several yards in front of him had stopped. 

Totally.

The football itself, which had just been punted, was hanging in midair. Like someone had bolted it there. The football players stood motionless, frozen like the football. One of the players stirred, holding his leg with one hand and clutching another of the strangely shaped cell phones in the other. 

"What butt munch threw this melted cell phone at me and caused me to trip?" he demanded, oblivious to the near-impossible fact that his fellow football players were now frozen and he was the only one moving among them. He moved past the cluster of the statue-like football players, and spotted Jake, who was staring at the frozen football, still hanging in midair. "Hey Jake, did you see who tripped me and caused me to fumble the ball?"

It took several seconds for the words to register within Jake's cerebral cortex before he responded. "Brian, right?" without waiting for an answer, he continued. "What's up with the frozen time bit?"

Brian turned and glanced at his fellow football players, still frozen, as if noticing them for the first time. "Weird, huh? You have one of those melted cell phone things too?"

Jake was more taken aback by Brian's frank indifference to the situation than by the question. "Yeah, it kind of popped out of the ground."

"Hey Jake!" Jake turned back to the sea of students that had at one time been moving _en masse_ towards him. Now they too were frozen, just like the football players. Only two figures moved in the large group of frozen figures. Both Jake knew, slightly.

One, a rather good looking blond haired girl wearing short jean shorts and a dark blue GAP t-shirt, was Nicole, a freshman cheerleader. The other was a girl named Michelle, with long brown hair, wearing a black Metallica t-shirt, sporting headphones around her neck.

"Kind of funky, right?" the cheerleader said. She had yet another of the melted black cell phones clipped to her jeans.

"Actually, the mere fact that the laws of physics are broken is more surprising than these new-found Digivices, not even to mention the fact that in having these, we must be the new generation of Digidestined."

"Digi-what?" Jake asked, now really confused. How did Michelle, even though she was very smart and spoke in big words, know what these weird things were, if he had never even heard of them before?

"Digivices. My cousin Mimi told me about them and the Digital World."

"What kind of name is Mimi?" Brian sneered, though he was trying to cover up that he was as confused as the rest of them. 

"She's Japanese, you jerk!" Michelle snapped, flaring up. She took a few deep breaths, still glaring at what she perceived as a dumb jock. "Anyway, a year ago, she went to summer camp and she and seven of her friends accidentally were transported to the Digital World."

"Is that slang for the 'Net, or something?" Nicole asked. She glanced at Jake, and despite herself, she smiled. _Wow,_ she thought, _I never noticed him before._

"No. Strickly speaking, the Digital World should not exist. It defies all the laws of physics that such a world could coexist so spectrally close to Earth. Anyway, it's full of these creatures called Digimon, and—"

"You been smoking some—"

"I'm warning you, jocko-boy!" Michelle flared again.

"Wait a minute." Jake interrupted, who had been quiet through this exchange, glancing at Nicole. In his mind, however, he was trying to figure this out. He held out his black Digivice before Michelle. "So you're saying you know what this thing does?"

"Well, if it is the real thing, then if we all hold them out ina circle, then we will be transported to the Digital World." Michelle said. She too held out her Digivice. Nicole looked uncomfortable, but seeing as there was no alternative but to open a sculpture museum with all of the rest of the student body as statues, she unclipped her Digivice from her jeans and held it in the circle. 

Brian looked away, and he was about to bolt for the safety of his car in the parking lot, when Michelle said, tauntingly, "What's the matter, Jock? Afraid?"

This appeared to stiffen Brian's resolve at once, and he turned. "I'm not afraid of anything." 

"Prove it."

Brian visibly gulped, but reluctantly held out his black device to join the others, forming a full circle. All four Digivices exploded with white light as their screens lit up. Jake shuddered as he felt energy, almost limitless, pouring down his arm like a powerful electric signal. He almost dropped the device, but kept a firm grip on it. 

More and more energy was fed into the four chosen new Digidestined, and the light grew brighter and brighter, until with a surge of power, it appeared that the ground under their feet was yanked away, indeed, everything—the sky, grass, trees, even the statues of the still immobile students, was traveling away from them. Darkness surrounded them for several long, uncomfortable moments, until they suddenly found themselves standing just on the edge of a thick, lush forest. 

"Is this the so called Digital World?" Brian asked, his voice filled with scorn.

"Well, Mimi didn't mention anything about a forest like that." Michelle said, not sounding too comfortable. 

Nicole shivered, and glanced towards the dark and ominous forest. "Let's get out of this place, at least." 

"Well, what did your precious cousin say about this?" Brian sneered.

"You—" Michelle didn't even finish. She raised her hand and was about to slap Brian across the face, but Jake grabbed her arm in time. "Don't Michelle. We don't' need any trouble, especially now."

"Really Michelle, did Mimi say anything about this place?" Nicole asked, tucking her long blond hair behind her ear. 

Michelle looked a little embarrassed as she shook her head. "No. From the way she described it, it was like big terrible monsters were everywhere."

"Great." Brian muttered. "Can't we just go back home the way we came?" 

The circle of four black Digivices was once more formed, but nothing happened. 

"This was all your bright idea, Michelle!" Brian stormed, jamming the apparently useless Digivice into his pocket. 

"Well, if you weren't being such a jerk—"

"Why is it only you think I'm a jerk?" 

"Maybe because everyone else are pinhead airheads!" Michelle glanced sidelong at Nicole. "No offense."

"I would have taken offense if I disagreed with you," Nicole said, glaring pointedly at Brian, who winced. "but I don't." 

"What?" Brian demanded, almost disbelieving. 

"Not so easy without your little fan club, is it?" Michelle demanded, almost smirking. 

"I don't have to take this crap!" Brian yelled, and stomped off, away from the forest. 

"You think you'll survive without us? All you have is your muscles!" Michelle yelled after him.

Brian turned, a smart come back all ready, but when he faced the others, his eyes bugged out, and he screamed at the top of his lungs: "Monsters!" 

"You're even dumber than you look!" Michelle yelled, "If you think we would fall for something like that!" 

The three of them then saw Brian standing as rigid as a board, his eyes doing an imitation of dinner plates. Jake slowly turned as did Michelle and Nicole, and as they did, they saw a small, two foot tall Digimon, seemingly made out of a pile of rocks. His large yellow eyes were wide open. 

"Brian!" it called out, running past the three astonished others. 

"Ahhhhhh!" Brian yelled. "It's out for blood!" 

He finally came to his senses and ran full speed in the other direction. The rock-type Digimon jumped and tackled Brian to the ground hanging onto his legs. 

"Brian! What took you so long?" the rock-Digimon asked, almost bouncing atop Brian. 

"Get it off!" Brian yelled. "What is it?" 

"I'm Gotsumon!" the rock-Digimon practically yelled with glee. "I'm your Digimon and your pal for life!"

"Michelle!" 

Michelle turned at the call of her name, back to the forest. Nicole and Jake did as well, leaving Brian to take care of his own. A small pinkish red crab-Digimon ran out from the depths of the forest and ran around Michelle, who stood stock-still. 

"Who are you?" Michelle asked, somewhat shakily. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm Crabmon! I know all about you!"

Michelle gulped, and smiled nervously down at the small Digimon still running laps around her in blind happiness. "Mimi never mentioned anything about hyper-active Digimon." She muttered.

"Nicole!" another voice, this time deeper and with a slight edge of gruffness to it materialized out of the gloom in the forest. Nicole and Jake looked at each other. "I don't want to know who . . ." she glanced at the still hyper-active Crabmon, "Or what that thing is." 

"Nicole? Don't be a stranger!" the voice rang out again, louder and a good deal nearer to where Jake and Nicole were standing and looking at each other.

"So . . . " Jake began. Nicole smiled warmly at him, and Jake smiled back. She began to say more, but just then a large mushroom-like Digimon with a purple cap stepped out of the forest and tapped Nicole on the shoulder. 

She turned, and had to force herself not to scream. Very shakily she said, "W-ho are you?" 

"I'm Mushroomon!" the Digimon said brightly. "Pleased to meet you, Nicole. I've been waiting for a while in that forest over there for you to show up in the Digiworld." He jerked his thumb back towards the forest.

"Wait a minute," Jake said. "You were waiting for us? Why?"

Mushroomon scratched his cap, evidently perplexed by the question. "I don't really know." He turned to the other Digimon and whistled. They came over in a flash, followed warily by Michelle and Brian. "Hey you guys, do you have any idea why we're here?" 

Crabmon clicked his small yet powerful pinchers together rapidly, like castanets. "B-e-c-a-u-s-e we are!" Gotsumon and Mushroomon both shot him poisonous looks, and he stopped. "Actually, I don't know either."

"Me either." Gotsumon admitted. "I just knew I was waiting for someone, and when you four humans showed up, I felt you were the right one!" he turned to Brian. "How did you get here, anyway?" 

Jake was about to answer when he heard his own voice being called, faintly. "J-ake! Hey Jake!" The low sound of beating wings came with the voice. 

"Who's the bowling ball?" Brian asked, pointing behind Jake towards the forest. 

Jake felt a light breeze on his neck, and turned, to come face to face with a small, dark blue, round Digimon with beating wings and large yellow eyes. "I'm DemiDevimon!" he said, and landed on the ground, and made a little bow. He then rose, and glared pointedly at Brian. "I'm not a bowling ball!" 

Nicole moved close to Jake and whispered in his ear. "Jake, don't take this personally, but your Digimon looks like nothing but trouble."

Jake nodded slightly, and glanced at Nicole, locking eyes with her. He smiled, and she returned the smile.

"Hey DemiDevimon!" Crabmon called, walking sideways over to the blue Digimon, still alighted on the ground. "Do you know why we're here?" 

DemiDevimon paused a moment, and considered. "I don't know, really. All I know is that I was wandering around in the forest and looking for Jake."

"Did Mimi ever mention anything like this?" Nicole asked Michelle, who was watching Crabmon doubtfully, as if there was some mistake and she had gotten the wrong Digimon. 

"What?" Michelle asked, and Nicole asked again. "Well, when Mimi and her friends first got to the Digital World, they each met their own Digimon. They all said basically the same thing: they had been waiting their whole lives to meet them." 

"So we each got our own Digimon," Brian said. "Big deal. None of them look like they can take on even a—"

GRREEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

A horrible noise, like some wild animal screaming, erupted from the forest. There was a terrible sound of trees being broken in half, as if some large creature shoving through the trees, only caring about getting to the Digidestined. 

In a sudden explosion of branches, split wood, and a torrent of leaves, a large red and black flying beetle Digimon shot out of the dark forest like a shot from a gun. It had large, invisible wings, a large red and black slashed carapace, wielding two huge pincers. 

Crabmon immediately stopped moving and stared up towards the oncoming Digimon and his eyes bugged out. "It's Kuwagamon! A Digimon that gets mad for no reason!"

"Why is he so much bigger than you guys?" Michelle asked, strangely calm.

"He's at a higher level than us." Gotsumon said, and grinned weakly. "He works out more than we do." 

"That's great." Brian muttered, almost shaking.

Kuwagamon flew up high, cried in his high-pitched scream, and dove down towards the panic stricken Digidestined. 

"We better run." Nicole said. "But where?"

Crabmon suddenly seemed to stiffen his resolve. "We've got to fight him."

Gotsumon stepped up to stand with Crabmon. "Right. We have to protect the Digidestined."

"Who?" Brian asked, apparently shocked that the Digimon would stand up against Kuwagamon. 

"Digimon attack!" DemiDevimon commanded, flapping his wings and going to the air. 

"Rock Fist Attack!" Gotsumon shot out a rock projectile, and it struck Kuwagamon head on, surprising him enough to halt in midair.

"Scissor Magic!" Crabmon snapped out with his small yet surprisingly powerful claws, generating energy projections, which slammed into Kuwagamon, hurting him slightly. Kuwagamon yelled out in pain, and shot back up into the sky and turned, to dive down again.

"Fungus Cruncher!" A large purple energy spark exploded from Mushroomon's outstretched fists, and slammed into Kuwagamon, knocking him further back, out of his intended flight. 

"Demi Dart!" A small dart-shaped energy projectile was thrown from DemiDevimon's talons, and struck Kuwagamon squarely, knocking him back into the forest, to crash headlong far into the dark forest.

"Yeah! You guys rock!" Brian yelled, jumping up from where he was crouched on the ground, hiding his eyes from the battle. 

"For little guys, you sure are strong!" Nicole said, smiling down at Mushroomon, who grinned up at her. "It was nothing." He said, cracking his knuckles.

"Good job, DemiDevimon!" Jake said. 

"No problem." DemiDevimon said, and he flipped around in midair in victory. 

"DIGIDESTINED!" A voice appeared to come out of everywhere at once. From the ground, sky, open plain, and especially the dark forest before them. The Digidestined and their Digimon cringed before the voice. 

"DIGIDESTINED!" The voice boomed again. "COME FORTH!"

"Come where?" Nicole asked. Jake glanced at her. Already, he had come to develop feelings for her, but could he ever show her at the way they were going?

They appeared to transport from the place where they were crouched from the impact of the voice. They appeared to be yanked out from the edge of the dark forest, and darkness surrounded them by all sides. 

There they stood for a long moment, in a place where time had no passage or meaning, and the place where Digimon were sent when they were defeated. This was the place where Etemon had been sent after his defeat by MetalGreymon and the original Digidestined, and where he had become the infamous MetalEtemon, but the current Digidestined did not know this, or care. All they wanted was to get out.

Just when Jake felt he could stand it no more, the darkness fell, and the Digidestined appeared in a large open arena, circular, walled with stone archways going perhaps fifty feet into the air. A few stone pillars stood before them, and they were standing on several steps that appeared to be carved from rock.

"This looks like the Roman Coliseum." Michelle commented. "What is it doing in the Digital World?" She frowned to herself, trying to recall something. "Mimi mentioned something about a place like this . . . but I can't remember what it was."

"I've got a better question." Brian said, apparently still shaken up from the close encounter with Kuwagamon. "What are we doing in the Digital World?"

"What's the matter, Jock-Boy?" Michelle asked, turning on Brian because she didn't like him to begin with, and his sarcasm wasn't helping the situation, which didn't feel right to her. "Confused now that you don't have a play book to follow?" 

Brian scowled at her, but said nothing. Apparently, for the moment, he had run out of things to say.

"This place doesn't feel right." Nicole said, voicing Michelle's thoughts. She glanced at Jake, and he nodded in agreement. "I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something wrong with it. Something's not right." 

Here was something Brian could work with, so after shooting Michelle a poisonous look, he said, "Is that the first time you've noticed that—"

"Digidestined." The same voice that they had heard back on the edges of the dark forest echoed throughout the empty stone behemoth, appearing, from the echo, to come from everywhere at the same time.

"Where is it coming from?" Crabmon asked, scuttling from side to side nervously, his six legs clacking magnified uncannily from the stone giant which appeared to confine them. 

"How will you be able to work together," the voice sounded again, but this time, the Digidestined could tell were it was coming from. A being, wrapped in flowing black cloaks with a long flowing black beard appeared to float from behind one of the stone columns, and come to rest maybe five feet from where the Digidestined were standing. It was Darkota, the dark force that had actually summoned them to the Digital World in the first place, and given them their Digivices, but the Digidestined didn't know that.

"Darth Vader?" Brian asked, blindly speculating.

"I am Darkota. I summoned you to the Digital World because we need your help. Only you, with the power of the black Digivices can allow the chosen Digimon to digivolve, and so bring balance to the Digital World." _Balance,_ he thought to himself, smiling wickedly, _so that darkness may have complete control, and the evil Digimon of old may be resurrected and I will rule the Digital World completely, and finally be rid of Gennai, the only one who is actually a challenge for me. _

"Are you a Digimon?" Nicole asked. Michelle was looking at Darkota strangely, as if she was trying to remember something else. 

"I am like a Digimon, and yet unlike." Darkota said, and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in disgust. 

"Why are the Digivices called Black?" Michelle said suddenly, unclipping hers and holding it up.

"What is their outward color?" Darkota asked, and then quickly said, "The name is no indication of what lies within." He glanced briefly at Michelle, and made a mental note to watch her and Jake and Nicole. Brian was a fool, and he would be the most easy to corrupt and bring about the other three's ruin. 

"What about the Digimon?" Jake asked suddenly. He had seen how Darkota had suddenly fallen silent when Michelle had asked him the question, but he couldn't figure out why, just yet. "And why us? Why pick us when there are billions of people you could have chosen for the job?"

"The Digimon are the chosen ones, named in a prophecy written long ago. One of many, which spoke of when evil threatened the land, and the undead Digimon of evil would rise again . . . and other such things. In it, it named the four rookie Digimon which would be able to Digivolve to the highest known level, that of Mega level, and bring balance to the Digital World."

"What do you mean by 'Rookie' and 'Mega'?" Brian asked, scratching his head. "Does that mean that they can change?"

"Yes." Darkota said, slowly and quietly, and he had to stop himself from striking down such a mindless bumbling fool. "Rookie shall Digivolve into Champion, which shall Digivolve into Ultimate, and Mega, the highest stage, is above that."

"Okay, I understand that," Nicole said. She had also noticed how Darkota had been reacting to their questions, and was not totally satisfied with some of the answers he had been giving. "Does that mean the Digimon have to win battles or something in order to Digivolve?"

"Precisely." Darkota said. _Finally,_ he thought, _these witless humans understand. _How they lasted long enough to create fire was inconceivable to him. _Now I must convince them that what they are doing is good, while it is actually all in aid of my master plan. _

"In the prophecy I have spoken of," he continued, "There is a band of renegade Digimon trying to upset the balance of power and bring forth the undead evil Digimon rulers of long ago." He snapped his fingers, and a large white screen unfurled behind him. He snapped again, and five pictures appeared on the screen with computer-coded language written in tiny script below them. "These are the strongest of the resistance, here on the Digital World." Moving closer to the screen, and pointing with one deathly white, bony finger at the first picture of a tall robot, he said, "This is Andromon, the leader of the rebels." Continuing down the length of the screen, pointing at each picture as he came to it. "This is Musyamon, a powerful wizard-ninja Digimon. Piximon, the smallest but perhaps most cunning, is next, followed by Asuramon, a powerful wizard-Digimon. Last, but certainly not least is Digitamamon, classified as a 'Perfect' Digimon, completely covered with armor. None of these are to be taken lightly, even Musyamon, even though he is but a Champion."

"You mentioned something about that these five were the strongest on the Digital World. Are there actually Digimon on Earth?" Jake asked.

"Actually, also in the prophecy I spoke of, there were eight other children, chosen long ago, which have since been corrupted by Gennai, basically the evil of the dark side of the Digital World." He said, lying through his teeth. 

"So how are we—" Michelle began, but Darkota held up his hand. "There will be a time later for questions. You must defeat these five Digimon so that the eight children I spoke of will come once more into the Digital World, bringing their terribly powerful Digimon into this world also, and so you will fight, for the fate of both worlds." He paused, and then appeared to be considering for a moment. He snapped his fingers again, and a large white duffel bag appeared out of thin air and appeared to float down to rest at the Dark Digidestined's feet. 

"In that bag you will find food and other necessities to last you for some while. Go now. I will transport you to the base of Navjio Canyon, where the five rebel Digimon were last seen last. I will be in touch with you at all times, so you may inform me of your progress." He snapped his fingers once more, and the Digidestined, their Digimon, and the new-found bag of food, transported in much the same way as before, to land directly in front of a large canyon, rimmed with black, brown, and yellow stone. Just off to one side was a gentle ramp cut directly into the rock, jutting down and leading to the base of the canyon. 

"Um . . . that was not right." Michelle said, as Brian took up the duffel bag, and they started slowly down the slope. "Why would he do this? And he seemed kind of hurried, and kept changing his story, kind of."

"Yeah." Nicole said, and she and Jake exchanged glances. "You could tell he was almost insulted by talking to us, like he was some powerful figure and we were ants or something."

"So what are we going to do?" Brian asked. He was taking up the rear with Gotsumon prodding along at his side. 

"Actually, as crazy as it sounds, he kind of made sense." Jake said, and shrugged. "We could try and do what he said and see what comes up."

"I'll follow whatever you say, Jake." DemiDevimon said, speaking for the first time since they had left the dark forest, and the other Digimon agreed with him. 

"Well supposing this is all in aid of something," Michelle said, as they reached the bottom of the rather long ramp and continued cautiously across the immense, seemingly empty canyon. "But what? That so-called prophecy was a little too convenient for my taste. From the way he was going, I wouldn't be surprised if he had made it up on the spot." She sighed heavily. "Then again, it is the only thing that makes any kind of sense in this world, anyway."

"What's the big idea?" Brian called back, who had now taken the lead. "We do what this guy wants, kick some Digi-Butt, and we go home."

"It isn't as simple as that." Nicole said.

"Why not?" Brian stopped walking and turned to face the other three. "Didn't you hear him say, 'oh your Digimon are the most powerful. All you have to do is get them to Digivolve to their highest stages, and you will layeth the smacketh down on all candy asses."

"Yeah, but how do we get the Digimon to Digivolve that high?" Michelle asked, crossing her arms, and glancing down at Crabmon, who was walking nonchalantly at her side as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Mimi mentioned something about that—one of their Digimon was kind of forced to Digivolve, and he Digivolved into an evil monster instead of the right one."

"Why do we always have to do what Mimi says?" Brian asked, glaring pointedly at Michelle. 

"Because," Nicole said through gritted teeth. Even she was reaching her breaking point with Brian, and cheerleaders were always supposed to be peppy and never get angry, and always happy about something. "She's been here before and through this world, and we haven't."

Brian looked startled, and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Evidently he never expected to hear any cheerleader yell at him, so he fell silent and turned back to the immense canyon. 

"Supposing we do run into these 'bad' Digimon?" Jake said, as they continued across the vast canyon. "What should we do? We still don't know if we should do what Darkota said."

"You decide." Michelle said suddenly, turning and looking at Jake, who was bringing up the rear with Nicole. "I've watched you, Jake, and I feel you would be the best one for being leader of this new group of Digidestined."

Brian grudgingly nodded as well, and Nicole beamed at Jake, having not to say a thing. The look in her eyes was more than enough.

"All right then." Jake said, and sighed heavily, weighing the options. He was silent, thinking for a moment. "We'll go along with what Darkota said, at least for now. But we had better keep our eyes open and watch out."

"To say the least," Michelle said, as they continued across the canyon, their Digimon plodding obediently at their sides or flying overhead. "Mimi said that the Digiworld was covered with evil Digimon. The way she put it, every time she and the other Digidestined defeated one, a—"

Suddenly Brian, who was still in front, travelling with Gostumon, stopped dead in his tracks. "W-What is t-that?" Brian stammered, pointing ahead. 

A Digimon, perhaps five feet tall covered in what looked like ancient Japanese armor and had a long curved sword shoved through his belt, stood perhaps twenty feet ahead of them, apparently standing guard over the middle of the empty quarry.

"Who is that?" Nicole whispered to Mushroomon, as she and Jake and Michelle both stopped as well and stared at the angry-looking Digimon.

"That's Musyamon. He's a wizard ninja Digimon, and one of the strongest of all of the champions! He uses his Shogun Sword attack to cut apart his opponent like an onion."

"Who are you?" Musyamon asked in a muffled voice. "Why do you come to this secret place?"

"We're the . . . Digidestined." Jake said, almost unsure of himself. Musyamon, although he looked fierce, did not appear to be evil, in the least. Still, he had resolved to follow with what Darkota had told them, so if they had to fight this Digimon, they would. 

"The Digidestined have not been in this land for many centuries, so you lie!" Musyamon took hold of the handle of his sword.

"What do you call this, then?" Brian asked boldly, holding out his black Digivice before him. A dark light seemed to explode from the small screen on the device, and Musyamon was bathed in it. As the light hit him, he seemed to be hurt, and cringed, taking a few steps back almost as if he had been physically hit. 

He recovered and stared at the black Digivice first in wonderment, then complete fear. "The Prophecy . . . it . . ." he didn't finish his sentence. He drew his long curved blade. "I must prevent you from journeying any closer!" he swiped out sideways with his sword, the blade glinting eerily. "Ninja Blade!" a curved arc of energy appeared to fly from the blade and slam into the midst of the Digidestined and their Digimon, sending everyone sprawling, unhurt. 

"DemiDevimon!" Jake yelled, climbing to his feet, and helping Nicole up.

"I'm on it, Jake." The small blue flying Digimon said. He shot up and soared down. "Demi Dart!" a black bullet shaped projectile was thrown from his talons, and struck Musyamon head on, not even fazing him.

"Rock Fist Attack!" A rock the size of a softball was thrown at Musyamon, from Gotsumon, but it bounced harmlessly off his armor. 

"Fungus Cruncher!" an energy projectile flew from Mushroomon's outstretched hands, which was deflected by Musyamon without much interest. 

Crabmon was about to attack, when Musyamon slashed out again with his blade, knocking Crabmon bodily back into Michelle, causing her to fall back, hard. 

"That's it." She grunted, rubbing her behind, "Let's see some of that evolving to the next stage."

"That I cannot allow!" Musyamon announced, and brandished his long, curved blade yet again. "Shogun Sword!" The blade glowed with power as Musyamon sliced through the air with it, and the shockwaves sent all of his opponents flying head over heels. 

From where he was lying, somewhat dazed on his stomach, Jake rose on his arms and yelled, "DemiDevimon! Digivolve!" His Digivice at his belt glowed with a chilling black light, which enshrouded DemiDevimon, surging him with energy. 

"DemiDevimon Digivolved to . . . Wizardmon!" 

Where DemiDevimon had been flying, there now floated a short Digimon, clad all in blue robes and had a pointed wizard's hat. A red bandanna covered his mouth, and only his blue eyes and a few tufts of blond hair could be seen. He carried a wooden staff in his hand, tapering off to a large knob at the end, crudely fashioned as a sunburst. 

Crabmon, who was shakily getting to his six spindly legs said, "That's Wizardmon! His magic is strong, but he has an uncanny knack for a powerful electrical attack, Thunder Blaster."

Musyamon's eyes widened under his helmet as he saw Wizardmon floating before him. "So the prophecy is true!"

"Of course," Wizardmon said, "And why should it not be?"

"Ninja Blade!" The arc of energy slammed into Wizardmon, but he quickly recovered. "Magical Game!" He thrust out his staff before him, the staff head glowing with energy. The energy erupted from the staff and slammed into Musyamon, knocking him back. 

"Crabmon!" Michelle said. She had gotten up, and was still smarting from being hit twice. "Digivolve!" Black light spilled from her Digivice, and Crabmon was bathed in it. 

"Crabmon Digivolved to . . . Seadramon!" 

Crabmon now stood as Seadramon, a fifteen foot long snake-like Digimon. 

"That's Seadramon." Mushroomon commented casually. "Whoever he doesn't like, he freezes rock solid with his Ice Blast attack!"

"Shogun Sword!" the attack went wild as Musyamon grew even more afraid, and slammed harmlessly into the far wall of the canyon. 

"Ice Blast!" A blast of frigid cold blue power leapt from Seadramon's opened jaws and slammed into Musyamon, just as he was attempting to block with his sword. The ice quickly spread over his body, completely freezing him into an immovable statue. 

"Now to finish him off!" Wizardmon said, and stretched out his right hand. "Thunder Blaster!" Energy grew in his palm and it flew straight for the ice sculpture of Musyamon and exploded. Musyamon yelled out, and disappeared in small fragments. 

"All right!" Jake said, as Wizardmon and Seadramon turned back to the other Digidestined, and before he knew what was happening, he was hugging Nicole. He certainly did not mind, but maybe he felt that Nicole did not share his feelings as to how he felt about her. Luckily, though, she did not pull away from his touch. Instead, as he found somewhat surprising, she hugged him back before they both withdrew. 

"What have you done?" a loud voice erupted from across the canyon. Metallic footsteps followed, coming nearer to the four Digidestined. 

The Digidestined turned, and saw four figures coming towards them, and not too slowly either. As they came into view, they saw the first was a tall robot made out of metal, a cyborg, followed by something that resembled a giant white egg on green feet. Just behind this walking hen-fruit was a large black skinned humanoid Digimon with four arms and an unusual amount of gold jewelry about his waist and neck and wrists. Bringing up the rear from the air was a small pink ball with gossamer wings beating furiously, with pink claws on his hands and feet, carrying a long black staff.

"What are those Digimon?" Michelle asked. 

"That's Andromon." Wizardmon said, indicating the android-type Digimon in the lead. "He may be a robot but watch out—he's an Ultimate Digimon!" 

"And that's Digitamamon!" Mushroomon said, pointing to the egg-shaped Digimon. "He's fully Digivolved and protected with his Digi-Armor."

"That mon behind him with the four arms," Gotsumon said, "Is Asuramon, a powerful wizard Digimon, fully evolved. His 'Fist of Asura' attack sure packs a punch!" 

Seadramon reared up over the other Digidestined and growled loudly. In a gruff voice, almost filled with malice, he said, "The flying pink ball in the sky is Piximon, a pixie Digimon. He is a well-known trainer of Digimon and teaches them how to Digivolve."

"Who are you, and what have you done to Musyamon?" Andromon demanded, stopping perhaps five yards in front of them.

"He attacked us first, you pile of bolts!" Brian yelled, not intimidated by a machine.

"Peace, human!" Asuramon said in a grave voice. "We have not come to fight, and perhaps we may settle this without fighting."

"So you had to delete him?" Digitamamon asked, from behind his egg shell. 

"He attacked us first . . . " Michelle said. "Something about a prophecy and how he had to stop us."

Andromon appeared to blink, and then process this information for several seconds, as he stood stock still with his eyes staring at nothing. "There was a Prophecy long ago, when File Island was first formed . . . but how could that have anything . . . there was something about four Digidestined humans coming to the Digital World and they would allow the four Digimon to Digivolve to Mega form with black Digivices . . ." he fell silent. 

"These humans have black Digivices," Piximon commented, indicating with his long staff. "Could it really be true?"

"They got those Digmon to digivole and destroy Musyamon," Digitamamon said, with an edge in his voice, "So it probably is true." 

"Then we cannot allow these humans to pass out of the canyon with the black Digivices intact." Asuramon said quietly. 

"Who's gonna stop us?" Brian demanded, holding up his fist. "Certainly not the four of you."

"Actually, we will, as we must." Andromon said. "We have sworn to protect all good Digimon, even if it means being destroyed. We will have the Black Digivices. Either you give them to us, or we shall take them from you."

"Well, Mr. Fear-less leader," Brian asked, turning to Jake, who stood back with Michelle and Nicole. " What do you say?"

"Decide swiftly, regardless of your choice," Andromon said. 

Jake paused, and when he did, Digitamamon said, "Let's just take them! Either way, we must have the Digivices!" he stepped up, and a crack appeared in his armor, around his eyes, and the void within was coal-black. "Nightmare Syndrome!" A black energy blob shot out of the hole, and streaked straight for the Digidestined.

Wizardmon and Seadramon leapt, and just barely managed to dive in front of the energy blast, putting themselves between it and the Digidestined, and they were hit hard, throwing them several feet. As Michelle and Jake ran to their fallen Digimon, Brian turned, glaring at Digitamamon. 

"You just got in, way over your head, egg-boy. Go Gotsumon!"

"Go where?" Gotsumon asked, obviously not too keen on facing four Ultimate Digimon, when black power and light erupted from the Digivice in Brian's pocket and slammed into him.

"Gotsumon Digivolved to . . . Monochromon."

"That's Monochromon!" Mushroomon said. "He's built like a tank, and just as strong!" 

"We cannot allow the prophecy to come true!" Asuramon said flatly. "Even if we must fight you!" He rose up, his four fists brimming with energy. "The First of Asura!" His four fists punched out as one, and the energies converged as one, and slammed heavily into the three champion Digimon, sending them sprawling. 

Monochromon, who recovered first, leapt to his four tree-trunk like legs. "Volcanic Strike!" A volley of fireballs erupted from his gaping jaws, and streaked like missiles towards Asuramon, who brought his four arms in front of him, and blocked the attack.

"Thunder Blaster!" a ball of lightning leapt from Wizardmon's outstretched hand, and exploded at Andromon's feet.

"Ice Winder!" A volley of ice-spears erupted from Seadramon's jaws, and rattled harmlessly off of Andromon's metallic covering. 

"Mushroomon—" Nicole said, looking down at the small Digimon, but Mushroomon had already stepped into the stream of energy pouring from her black Digivice like a shot. 

"Mushroomon Digivolved to . . . Woodmon!" 

Woodmon stood, perhaps only three feet tall, appearing to be a wood stump with feet and long arms. 

"I'm Woodmon!" Woodmon said. "I'm a vegetation Digimon, but watch out for my Woody Smasher attack."

"At the moment," Asuramon said, watching as the four Champion Digimon gathered together, "These Digimon are not strong enough to harm us."

"No, but they soon may be." Andromon said.

"We must defeat them before they are allowed to Digivolve again!" Digitamamon announced. "Nightmare Syndrome!" 

A black explosion of energy erupted from his shell, and engulfed Monochromon and Seadramon, sending them flying. 

"Twig Tap!" Several razor sharp twigs shot out from Woodmon, but bounced harmlessly off of Digitamamon. 

Jake grabbed his Digivice from his belt, and held it out. "C'mon, Wizardmon! Crank up the power! We can't win like this!" The Digivice again erupted with black power, and slammed into Wizardmon.

"Wizardmon Digivolved to . . . Phantomon."

Wizardmon stood now as Phantomon, draped in gray and a red cape that covered his face, revealing only two blue points for eyes. In his right hand he held a long golden scythe. 

"Phantomon . . . " Piximon said, his eyes suddenly wide. "It is true then!"

"Have a taste of my Shadow Scythe!" Phantomon said, and slashed out with his golden scythe, brimming with black energy. Andromon fell back, a long gash across his metallic chest, with wires and conduits poking out.

"You'll get it for that!" Piximon yelled. "Pit Bomb!" A small black bomb the shape of a bat was thrown, at exploded at Phantomon's feet, sending him sprawling. 

"Seadramon! Digivolve!" Nicole yelled. 

"Seadramon Digivolved to . . . MegaSeadramon!" 

MegaSeadramon stood, larger and longer than Seadramon, wearing a golden metallic helmet covering his entire head, with a sharp spear-head sticking out from his forehead. 

"Thunder Javelin!" A bolt of lightning leapt from his horn, and slammed into Piximon, sending him airborne.

"The Fist of Asura!" Energy rippling from all of his fists, Asuramon brought them together, and a terrific explosion of energy slammed into MegaSeadramon and Phantomon, knocking them back several feet.

"Monochromon!" Brian yelled, turning to his Champion-level Digimon, "Digivolve again!" His Digivice exploded with energy and dark light.

"Monochromon Digivolved to . . . Megadramon!"

Megadramon flew up on purple wings, his long, serpent like body trailing behind. Instead of paws, he had two metal pronged devices that unfolded to reveal two powerful cannons. A dark sheath covered his head. 

"Dark Side Attack!" His two cannons opened, and yellow orbs of energy exploded from within, pounding Digitamamon into the ground. 

"Now, MegaSeadramon!" Megadramon yelled, turning back and diving higher into the air.

"Mega Ice Blast!" An incredible blue stream of icy blue energy shot from MegaSeadramon's gaping jaws and hit Digitamamon, freezing him into a statue. 

"Shadow Scythe!" Phantomon slashed out with his glittering scythe, slashing fully through the ice, splitting it, and the Digimon inside, into two, and the two halves of Digitamamon shattered into small fragments, and disappeared.

"One down, three to go." Brian said, punching the air with his fist. "Our Digimon rule!" 

"Gattling Attack!" Two silos at Andromon's side opened, and out shot two small black missiles, knocking all three Ultimate Digimon back. 

"The Fist of Asura!"

"Pit Bomb!" 

As Phantomon recovered, warily taking to the air again, he said, "Can't take much more of this."

"Yes," MegaSeadramon said, rearing up again. "And the same trick won't work twice."

"Target the little pixie!" Megadramon snapped, taking to the air. 

"Thunder Javelin!" a powerful bolt of electricity sparked and leapt from MegaSeadramon's horn, just as Megadramon's twin cannons cycled open.

"Dark Side Attack!" 

Both attacks slammed simultaneously into Piximon. Piximon was sent flying high into an arc, and as he reached the apex of the arc, he shattered into small digital fragments, and faded. His black staff fell, and before it hit the ground, it too dissolved, and the fragments were borne away with the wind. 

"We must not fail!" Andromon said, his chest still sparkling from the gash in it. "We must destroy them, regardless of what becomes of us."

"Agreed." Asuramon said, and turned to the three Ultimate Digimon, his fists brimming with energy. "The Fist of Asura!" 

"Dark Side Attack!" Megadramon's attack was not able to blunt Asuramon's attack, which slammed into Megadramon, knocking him clear out of the air.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon spun, his right arm brimming with electrical energy, condensed into a small space. The attack slammed into the large form of MegaSeadramon, lying him flat on the ground of the canyon.

Jake turned to look at Nicole, and she smiled back in acknowledgement. "Woodmon, it's your turn!" 

"Right!" Woodmon said, and stepped into the great dark energies that erupted from Nicole's Digivice. 

"Woodmon Digivolved to . . . Cherrymon!" 

Cherrymon stood, a tall, wide cherry tree, perhaps thirty feet tall and fifteen feet wide. His roots were not sunk into the ground, but rather they acted as feet, so he could move. Six of his lower branches served as hands for him, and in his lower right hand he held a large crudely shaped cane. Under his yellow eyes he had a mustache of green moss. 

Cherrymon moved with amazing speed for a Digimon of his size, and held up his cane, which had the odd shape of a crude hammer.

"Pit Pelter!" Raising his cane and pointing it towards Andromon and Asuramon, small energy projectiles shooting out of the cane and slamming into them both, knocking them back. 

Andromon moved to attack, but Phantomon was quicker, gliding up, his glinting scythe at the ready.

"Shadow Scythe!" 

Andromon's robotic insides were revealed as Phantomon's scythe sliced cleanly through Andromon's chest. Andromon turned, as if confused, and then feel dead forward, his systems shutting down.

Asuramon looked upon the four Ultimate Digimon, swiftly bearing down upon him, and he rose, ready and defiant. Strangely, he felt calm, as energy burned within his fists. 

__

To Be Continued . . .


	2. Default Chapter Title

__

On the other side of the Digital World, in the dwelling of Gennai . . . 

"So Gennai," Tai said, after all eight of the original Digidestined had had a joyous reunion with the Digimon they had not seen for several years, upon coming back to the Digital World. "Why exactly did you call us back again?"

"Yeah Gennai," Matt said. "I mean, it's not like we aren't glad to be back to the Digital World, but we're kind of grown up. We all have cars . . ." he glanced at Kari and T.K., the youngest of the Digidestined by some two years, "Except for Kari and T.K., that is. The rest of us can drive, and we're in our senior year in high school."

"Okay, Matt, you've made your point." Tai said, not harshly. Matt raised and eyebrow; some things never changed. 

Tai shifted from where he was sitting next to Sora, his fingers interlaced with hers. Gennai smiled before he answered. "I know how may years have passed—"

"So howcum you don't age?" T.K. asked, looking comical with Patamon sitting atop his hat. 

"Well, my social security is paid up," Gennai said. "It has been more than six millenniums since you defeated Apoclyamon, and much has happened. For the most part, the balance of power between good and evil was set, but a few weeks ago, I suddenly took notice of an evil I have never felt before." He paused, and sighed, as if the memory was painful. "He was almost a rival, even for me."

"For you?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, where they had slipped down. Gomamon looked up at him and grinned. "I thought you were omnipotent."

"Well, I do seem like a god to you," Gennai said, and he got up from where he had been seated at the head of the table, and began pacing around the table. "But I tried that line of work, and it was too much work for me. Anyway, this being came from another realm, a dimension only existing in Digimon Limbo."

"Who is he?" Mimi asked. "He sounds creepy." 

"His name is Darkota, as far as I know. He is a being created before the Digital World formed, even before my time."

"So if he is more Herculean than you," Izzy asked, looking up from his high-tech laptop, "Then how do you except us to bring about his downfall?"

"There is a way to do everything, except make a good cup of tea." Gennai said, continuing in his pacing. "Do you remember what Piximon said to you when he saved you from the Dark Masters the first time?"

"He said 'Once you succeed, no one will ever be able to stop you again.'" Kari interrupted. She had a good soul and heart, and cared about all of the Digimon that had been their friends the last time they were on the Digital World. T.K. smiled at her, and she smiled back. He slipped his hand over her smaller one, and squeezed it. She smiled again, and returned the pressure. Gatomon looked up from where she was taking a catnap on the floor, right next to Kari's feet, and purred in contentment. 

"He was right. No one will be able to stop you again, if you go about it right. There is one way to defeat him, once and for all, but there's a lot to do even before you reach him."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, concern in her voice. She too, shifted, but kept her grip on Tai's hand. Biyomon looked up from where she was sitting on the arm of her chair, and smiled. She sure was glad to see her best friend again. 

"He has his own group of Digidestined . . . the Dark Digidestined."

"What?" the same word erupted from all eight of the Digidestined's mouths at the same moment. 

"He has given the four Dark Digivices to four chosen children on Earth. They are on the Digital World, and already are wreaking havoc with their Digimon."

"Where are they?"

"Who are they?

"Who are their Digimon?"

"I don't know who they are, or who their Digimon are. There was a small group, lead by Andromon, and the Dark Digidestined have already defeated them."

"So why—" Matt began again, but Gennai held up his hand. 

"You can't blame them, though. Darkota has tricked the children and their Digimon. Everytime the Digimon Digivolve, they are fed more Dark Energy from the Dark Digivices, and they stay in that stage. When they reach their highest form, they stay in that stage, and the darkness controls them, against their will. The Dark Digidestined are almost controlled by Darkota through the Dark Digivices, and with the Digivices, the Dark Digidestined can control the four chosen Digimon."

They control them like the Black Gears?" Izzy asked.

"Well, their Digivices are just like yours; they help their Digimon Digivolve, but they also help gain some control over the Digimon, but not total control." Gennai replied.

"So what is he trying to do with the Dark Digidestined?" Joe asked.

"The Dark Digidestined were in a prophecy with their Digimon, a prophecy which told of a time when darkness would cover the land, and undead Masters of Darkness would rise again, and take control. Darkota discovered this prophecy, and if he is not defeated and the Dark Digidestined and their Digimon are not stopped and broken from the Dark Digivices' control, he will rule the Digiworld completely."

"Other Digimon have tried that before," Mimi said, almost sounding bored. "And we stopped them."

"Darkota is stronger than any Digimon. Even all of the Dark Masters could not defeat him, and neither can you."

"So . . . why should we even fight?" Joe asked.

"He cannot be defeated," Gennai said, glancing sharply at Joe. "But he can be pushed back into his own universe."

"How are we supposed to fight these other Digidestined?" Sora asked. "I mean, you said that their Digimon and them are being controlled by Darkota."

"There is always a way, even a way to spell 'supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.'" 

This only earned Gennai blank stares from the eight Digidestined. "Well, you can defeat them, without hurting them. But the Dark Digidestined are not the real problem. Darkota, and his possible army of evil Digimon, is the real problem."

"Do you know where they are now?" Tai asked, practically rising out of his seat. Upon their return to the Digiworld, he had once more taken up his role as the unofficial leader of the Digidestined.

"Yes. The Dark Digidestined are currently marching northward, and they are entering a forested clearing to rest for the night."

"Shouldn't we strike when they are in a torpor?" Izzy asked. "Strategy speaking, they would be most unconstrained to overcome."

"The forest is dangerous at night." Gennai commented, sitting down again at the head of the table. "Full of lions . . . and tigers . . . and bears, oh my."

"So we'll have to wait until morning . . ." Matt mused.

"Well, I suppose I can accommodate with some beds and hot cocoa." Gennai said, twirling his mustache. "Unless you would prefer some tea."

The looks of disgust on everyone's face answered him, and he laughed again. The last rays of the sun were filtering down through the waters of the lake where Gennai's house was located, submerged in deep water. He snapped his fingers. Eight extra large, fluffy sleeping bags appeared piled neatly in the corner, and a large mug of steaming hot chocolate with large mushrooms floating on top appeared in front of the Digidestined.

"This looks good." T.K. smiled. He smiled at Kari, and she smiled back, discreetly, so that no one else could see. They had been best friends since their legendary adventures in the Digital World, and since they were both freshmen in high school, naturally, and they began to care for each other more than just as friends. 

"Actually," Gennai said, taking a sip of his simmering mug of tea, "I have worked on that recipe for several thousand years. Just the right amount of chocolate, shaken, not stirred." 

There was silence for several moments, the only sounds being Izzy's gentle clicking of his keyboard, and the occasional slurp of hot chocolate to get to the melted marshmallows at the bottom of the mug. 

Tai and Sora kept glancing at each other and smiling, and Tai squeezed Sora's hand. They had, too, been good friends the last time they were on the Digital World, and since then, they had steadily become a couple. They had both still retained their virginity, but both wanted to lose it to each other. It was just a question of being the right time.

One by one, the Digidestined grew sleepy, and got up from the table and unrolled their sleeping bags in the large, dimly lit room adjoining the sort of study they were in now. T.K and Kari left at separate times, but in the semi-darkness, they brought their sleeping bags close together, and they laid together in silence. 

Kari rolled over, and for several seconds, she and T.K. stared into each others eyes in the dimming light. She bent her head, and he leaned forward, and their lips joined. The kiss lasted for several seconds, and when it broke, T.K. moved in for another kiss, this one lasting almost a full minute. Kari, never having a boyfriend previously, did not really know what to do, but let T.K. trace her cheek with the pad of his thumb, and she took his hand and gently squeezed it. She did not really know what to do with her tongue, either. She felt she would have liked to french-kiss with T.K., but the situation did not present itself. They broke apart, smiled warmly, and then settled back down, Kari nestling up next to T.K. who had his arm around Kari's waist, and Gatomon and Patamon nestled in their Digidestined's sleeping bag. 

Mimi, actually was thinking of which of the three available boys she would pick to have the privilege of keeping her warm throughout the trip into the Digital World. She picked what she deemed to be the largest and fluffiest sleeping bag, and walked into the next room. When she found that Matt and Joe were already asleep, she threw down her bag and fell into an angry sleep. She decided, before she dropped off, that she liked Matt best.

She . . . had changed in the years that had passed between the original journey into the Digiworld and the present. She had . . . grown up very fast, pampered and spoiled by her rich parents, and as a freshman in high school, she had been bored, and looking for something exciting to do which she had not tried before, so she stayed out for an entire night with her boyfriend. They had ended up getting drunk, and she lost her virginity, but not against her will. 

Tai and Sora got up, hand in hand, and picked two of the largest sleeping bags. Settling in the darkened room at the far wall, they abandoned one of the sleeping bags and both climbed into one, and nestled down. They made out for a while, but then they both realized that, as Tai was unclipping Sora's small bra (covering her rather large, shapely breasts), and she was sliding his pants down, that the noise they would make would awaken the other Digidestined. So they stopped, kissed some more, and fell asleep, in each other's arms. 

Izzy and Gennai stayed up far into the night, perhaps until 1:30, talking about major changes in computers and the Digital World in general. 

__

On the other side of the Digital World, in the edges of the Great Forest, some half-dozen miles from Navjio Canyon . . .

Brian, who had resolved to carrying the large, heavy duffel bag which Darkota had given them, finally let it fall on to the ground in the middle of a small clearing, the ground covered with a bed of fallen pine needles. 

"I'm dead tired." He announced, and sat down, opening the duffel and rummaging around. 

The Digimon, which had oddly remained in their Ultimate forms after the short-lived battle with Asuramon, positioned themselves around the small clearing where the Digidestined were getting ready to eat, twenty yards apart. 

"I thought athletes were some kind of machine." Michelle said. "They never get tired."

Brian shot her a look, but did not answer. He pulled out of the duffel bag several large rectangular objects wrapped in shiny foil. "I guess we're going to eat power bars for dinner." 

Jake took one, unwrapped it, and gingerly bit off a corner. "Pretty good." He said, surprised. "I've never tasted anything like this before but it kind of . . . spreads to all parts of your body and gives you energy and warmth." 

"Glad you didn't say they tasted like chicken." Brian muttered, tearing into one.

The Digidestined each ate a few of the bars, and for several moments, there was no talk. Brian, who finished first, rummaged around in the bag again, and produced a small silver lighter. "I'll build a fire." He announced. He dug up the bed of needles in a three by three-foot spot, and made a small pile of thin sticks in the center. Grabbing a small handful of pine needles, he struck a flame in the lighter, and let the pine needles catch fire. He held them out slowly to the pile of branches, and they slowly caught fire, until a small little fire was going nicely. 

"That thing will burn down to nothing." Brian said, and then yawned. "There're four small sleeping bags in the duffel." He took one out and rolled it out on the ground, some ten feet from the fire. "See you guys in the morning."

The other Digidestined moved closer to the fire, and talked small talk; about movies, video games, and life in general. Jake, who was sitting across the fire from Nicole, noticed that she kept glancing across the fire at him. Jake smiled across the red dancing flames, and Nicole returned the smile, before she and Michelle launched into a lengthy spiel about cheerleading and school. 

Jake got up, bid the two girls good night, and grabbed a sleeping bag and set it up, opposite from Brian, with the fire between them. Jake laid in silence for a good fifteen minutes, just listening to Nicole and Michelle talking and laughing quietly. He really liked Nicole, he decided, and he though the feeling was mutual. 

Finally, when the talk died down and he suspected that they must have gone to bed as well, he got up and put his shoes on. Walking carefully around the perimeter of the camp, he started down what appeared to be a dirt trail deeper into the woods. He heard footsteps behind him, and when he turned, he came within inches of Nicole, and their eyes locked. 

"What's the matter?" Jake asked in a whisper. 

"Where are you going?" She whispered back.

"For a walk.' A moments pause. "Do you want to come with?"

"Sure." She smiled again.

The two of them started again down the path, leading the small fire and the other two sleeping Digidestined behind, until all they could see was the small fire as a small pinpoint of light in the darkness on the horizon, and the dark shapes of trees all around them. 

Jake felt his hand drift as he was walking, and felt Nicole's hand lightly brush his, and then next thing he knew, he was holding hands with her. This was actually really cool, he thought, because previously since she was a cheerleader and all, and he was just a normal guy, he though that he had not chance with her, but obviously he was wrong. 

"Listen, Jake." Nicole said, and stopped walking, drawing Jake around, holding his hand, until he stood right before her. She stared into his eyes, and he blushed and looked away. She smiled. "Listen . . . we're stuck on the Digiworld, for a while . . . and I'm not going with anyone back home . . ."

Jake looked at her suddenly, and smiled. "Yes. I want to go out with you. So much." She smiled, leaned forward, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Good. As do I." 

"So . . ." Jake started. "Do you want to . . ." 

"We could try something." She said, and giggled. "I never . . . tried anything before. No one . . . " her voice drifted off. "Everyone always treated me like an air-headed cheerleader, and nothing else."

They walked back to the camp in silence, still hand in hand. Upon reaching it, they found Brian and Michelle still fast asleep. Nicole climbed into her sleeping bag, and motioned for Jake to crouch down. He did so, and they made out for several long minutes until Jake couldn't feel his legs anymore from being cramped up. Just before they broke up, Nicole whispered, "Later, Jake. When this is all over, we will. Now, we have to do this job on the Digiworld."

Jake nodded in the semi-darkness, the flames from the dying fire dancing across his face. "That's just what I was thinking. See you in the morning."

He crept over to his sleeping bag, and settled into it, visions of Nicole dancing in his head. 

__

The next morning . . . 

Michelle woke up with sunlight streaking through the boughs of the trees and spaying across the camp in golden rays. She rolled over, and pulled a band-less watch out of her pocket. She yawned, and then looked at the digital numbers. They were flashing '12:00', over and over, like a confounded VCR. Michelle shook the watch, pressed some buttons, and looked again. The same four numbers were still flashing. 

There was a gentle rustling of leaves, and a sound that alluded to the sound of wood creaking, and Michelle looked up, to have her vision filled with the large form of Cherrymon. 

"Are you all right kid?" Cherrymon asked in a voice that suggested there was something wrong with his nose. 

"Yes, Cherrymon." Michelle said. "How are you?"

"All right." Cherrymon said, and then moved to go back to his post.

"Why have you stayed in your Ultimate form?" Michelle asked. 

"I don't know," Cherrymon admitted, and shifted his weight onto his cane. "All I know is that when I digivolved from Woodmon, I felt a sudden surge of energy like I had never felt before, and I've had plenty of energy since. The other Digimon and I were talking about it, and we couldn't come up with a logical explanation." He seemed uncomfortable, so he moved quickly back to where he and the other Digimon had been standing guard. Over his shoulder he called, "Hey kid, let us know what you're planning to do, and when. We'll be keeping watch."

Michelle got slowly to her feet, rubbing the dust out of her eyes, and then moved off through the trees to . . . relieve herself. 

Jake blinked, suddenly waking. It took him a moment to remember what had happened, and why and how they had gotten to the Digital World. He turned, still lying in his comfortable spot in the sleeping bag, and found Nicole lying a few feet away, still asleep, a look of contentment on her pretty face. Her blond hair, mostly tucked behind her ear, but a few strands, appearing to Jake with the sunlight streaming down, that those few strands falling across her peaceful face to be spun of gold. 

Jake smiled to himself, remembering all that had passed the night before, and what (hopefully) lied ahead between them. He sat looking at her for several moments in silence, before getting up. The soft noise he made doing so roused Nicole, and her head rose up, her baby-blue eyes opens, and she smiled up at Jake, and he smiled back.

"Good morning." She said, and climbed to her feet. Her clothes, although slightly rumpled, still looked great on her. She stretched up with her hands above her head, and stood up on her tiptoes. Jake moved towards her, and she pretended to lose her balance and fell forward, and Jake caught her. They kissed twice, once quickly, and the second, a little longer, but still without tongues. 

Michelle came back just then, climbing over a fallen log, a kind of sheepish look on her look as she saw Nicole and Jake watching her. "Um . . . Good morning." She said, then looked down at Brian, still sleeping soundly. "Anyone want to get Jerkules up?" she nudged him gently with her foot, but he did not stir.

"Can we leave him behind?" Nicole said, and then laughed to show that she was joking. 

"Well, he does know how to light a fire," Michelle commented, rolling up her sleeping bag and stowing it into the large duffel bag. "But not much else." She moved over and shook him by the shoulders. He muttered something incorrigible, but did not stir. Michelle then kicked him in the side, and Brian leapt awake, rubbing his side. "All right, who is the mother—" he looked up and saw Michelle, her arms folded across her chest. "Oh. 'Morning, Michelle, everyone." He got up, yawning loudly. He then noticed the fire, and rummaged around in the pocket of his Nike shorts for the little silver lighter. Re-lighting the fire and stocking up with a small pile of small dried sticks and brush, he set about to distributing the silver-wrapped food bars. 

They ate in silence, not commenting much beyond 'Good morning' and a query to how each other slept. Brian was actually surprised he had slept at all; the hard ground, even cushioned somewhat by the sleeping bag, did little for his sore muscles. 

After they had eaten and all had used the . . . facilities substituting for the lavatory, they met with their Digimon where they had been patiently watching, standing guard, and waiting the whole night. Of course, they had watched in shifts, but even so, they were not even close to being as tired as the Digidestined were, partly because they had been well-fed before they had met the Digidestined, and partly, although the reason why this happened was unknown, they still had enormous amounts of energy from when they had Digivolved. 

The Digidestined and their Digimon started out of the forest, back the way they had come in, in silence. As they traveled out of the forest and starting across a large, expansive grassy field, and felt the sun beating down gently on their faces.

"What are we going to do now?" Brian asked. Again, he was carrying the duffel bag. 

"Well," Jake started, choosing his words carefully. "Darkota said something about if we defeated Andromon and his gang that eight children and their Digimon would come and find us, and we would have to fight them."

"Wait." Michelle said. "How are we supposed to win against odds of two to one?" 

"We don't even know what kind of Digimon they have." Nicole commented. 

"From what Darkota was talking about," Brian said, "He was going on about how we would be the strongest and beat down—"

"There they are!" a voice erupted seemingly from the sky, a voice that was unfamiliar to the Digidestined. 

"Don't provoke them, Matt!" Another voice sounded, also from the clear sky. 

"What the—" Jake said, and they all looked skyward. 

Flying down towards them like large rockets on a sub-orbital flight path, there were a large Digimon covered in shining golden armor from head to toe. His feet were large, orange, like a dinosaur's, were clawed, and he wore large golden seamless gauntlets which appeared to slide over his hands and were edged with three large, razor sharp black claws. His metallic wings were spread open on his back, and a teenage, brown haired kid, maybe eighteen years old, was clinging to his back. 

Another Digimon was flying along side it, it appeared to be a cybernetic, oversized wolf. He was completely covered with cybernetic parts, and wielded jaws of steel like a hunter's iron trap. Even his tail appeared as a razor edged scimitar, apparently robotic as well. A boy with wild blond hair rode on the wolf's massive shoulders, appearing to be the same age as the brown haired boy. Steel wings jutted out from under the boy's legs, appearing to come out from the shoulders of the robotics wolf. 

The apparent orange skinned reptile Digimon with the golden metallic armor came to a land, dropping some five feet above the ground, to land solidly on his large feet. The other appeared to level off in mid air, hovering like a helicopter. 

The brown-haired teenager jumped off of his perch atop his armored Digimon, and stared for a few moments at the four Digidestined and their Ultimate Digimon, standing at the ready behind them, watchful yet tense. At the slightest provocation, they would attack. 

Finally, the boy called out to the robotic wolf and the blond haired boy riding atop him, still hovering perfectly still in midair. "It's okay. Tell the others to come down." 

The robotic wolf gave a slight growl of acknowledgement, and then he with his human passenger in tow shot up back into the sky and out of sight. 

Jake stepped forward. He had noticed that this brown-haired boy had a small silver colored Digivice, different in shape than his own, clipped to his belt. "Who are you guys?" 

"I am Tai." The brown-haired boy said, but there was a hint of uncertainty to his voice as if he felt uncomfortable in the situation. Almost to reassure himself, he glanced back at the golden armor clad Digimon behind him. Turning back, jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the Digimon, who stood at the ready, also quite tense. "That's WarGreymon. He's my . . . Digimon."

"So you must be the one of the Digidestined from Earth!" Michelle blurted.

"Well, I'm the unofficial leader, but yes, my friends and I are from earth." He said, but then appeared to be slightly confused. "Aren't you from Earth as well?" 

"We are," Jake answered. "I'm Jake, and this—"

Brian suddenly stepped forward. "Just a sec, Tai." He said, almost mockingly. "Where did you send your little pal on the big bag wolf?"

"To get the other Digidestined." Tai said, matching Brian's glare. "We had split up, in advice from Gennai, to look for you in the Great Woods, and since Matt and I have found you, I told him to take the big bad wolf and call the others over here."

"Why?" Brian pressed on. "If it came to fighting—" Jake shot a sudden, piercing glare at him, and Brian fell silent, not finishing his sentence. 

"Who said anything about fighting?" Jake said, but in his mind, he had already thought about this. If what Gennai had said was true, they would need to defeat these Dark Digidestined in order to get to Darkota, the real peril. 

Jake was going to answer, but he was silenced as he saw several odd shapes in the bright blue sky, coming towards them. As they came closer, he and the others could see what it was. 

The first in the line of flying objects coming towards them came into sight, and they saw it was a large brown scarab beetle with a large horn on his head, multiple three fingered claws, and a reddish-blond haired boy riding atop him. Behind him was a small, pixi-like Digimon that appeared to be humanoid, with large green eyes and wearing a short pink dress. Four wings of emerald green wings beat far more rapidly than human sight could see. From her arms hung a teenage girl with long brown hair.

Behind these two came a huge, bird-like Digimon which had two arms and long legs ending in grasping claws. Feathery wings sprouted from its shoulders, and its face was shrouded by a red carapace, making the Digimon almost appear like an Indian bird. In its large clawed hands, it carefully carried a teenage girl with long flowing red hair. Gripped in the bird-Digimon's grasping talons, was the large green shell of a large strange turtle like creature, standing on its hind legs and wielding a large steel hammer in it's clawed hands. Long tusks protruded from its jaws, and a long horn of bone was sticking up out of its forehead. From his other free hand, he carefully held a tall teenage boy with wild blue hair and wire-rimmed glasses, having a white duffel bag over his shoulder.

Bringing up the rear were two angel-type Digimon, one obviously male and the other obviously female, both being held aloft by the light white feathers of many wings. On both of their shoulders, they each carried a young teenage girl and a boy. 

These six different Digimon and their children came closer and then all alighted behind WarGreymon, and were set down on the ground by their Digimon and moved to join and stand behind Tai. There was a glint in the air, and the robotic wolf with the blond haired boy riding still atop him returned, and settled down to join with the other seven Digimon, standing behind now the original eight Digidestined, who faced off in a silent stare-down with the four new Digidestined and their four Ultimate Digimon.

"This is Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, T.K., Kari, and Matt." Tai said, moving down the line of the seven other Digidestined.

"This is Brian, Michelle, and Nicole." Jake said, indicating each of the new Digidestined in turn, but was careful not to take his eyes off of the other Digidestined, or their Digimon. 

"Why did you destroy Andromon and the others?" Kari suddenly demanded.

"Why are you guys here with all of your Digimon at their highest levels?" Nicole said. She turned and glanced at Jake, who nodded slightly. "Unless you are here only to fight with us."

Tai glanced sideways at Sora. "Well, we thought we could talk and work things out, instead of fighting. These Digimon here were just in case there was some kind of a trap."

"It certainly doesn't look like that to me!" Brian said. "Why would you need all these Digimon for any kind of a trap?"

Izzy laughed. "Obviously, you don't know the Digital World very well if you think that. And in addition, with—" Tai suddenly glared at him, and he fell silent. 

Jake and the others noticed this little act, and they knew then that Izzy was about to reveal the principle reason why the Digidestined were here with their Digimon at their highest forms. "Why did you stop Izzy from finishing his sentence?" Michelle said suddenly. "Let him finish what he had to say." Jake and the others nodded, but did not say anything.

Tai puased, and appeared to be in thought. Finally he sighed and said heavily, "If I do that, it will certainly bring a fight. And we don't want your Digimon to get hurt."

This last shot apparently infuriated Brian much more than the rest he had said, because he suddenly exploded. "Who says we wouldn't win? You guys may be the original Digidestined, and you may outnumber us, but that doesn't mean anything! You guys want to fight, we'll fight."

"No one is challenging you!" Matt said. _This guy is obviously related to Tai somehow,_ Matt thought. _No one else could be such a jerk about fighting._

"No," Jake answered, "But you're certainly not trying to be friendly."

"Yeah." Nicole echoed. "You guys show up with all of this fighting force, and expect us to just forget about it when that force is looming over your shoulders and staring at us! And then you try to act all good and benevolent, like you're trying to help us."

"If a fight starts," Tai said dangerously, "The real Digidestined will not be the ones to start it."

"Whaddya mean, 'real Digidestined!" Brian thundered. 

"Just what the he said." Sora said. Even she, like the other Digidestined were getting angry. 

"I say we should teach these poor fools a lesson." Michelle said, turning to Jake but talking loud enough so that the other Digidestined could hear. 

Tai turned back to his Digidestined. "We still have to be fair about this. MegaKabuterimon, Lillymon, Zudomon, and Garudamon, go."

The respective Digimon quickly moved over to face off with the other four Ultimate Digimon, each group standing in front of their group of Digidestined. 

Only Cherrymon was somewhat of a match in size for the other Digimon, and he said, "Hmm. I wonder who will attack first."

Izzy suddenly yelled, "Take them down, but don't defeat them! MegaKabuterimon, go!" 

The large brown, scarab beetle, which had moments before been hovering a few feet above the ground, rocketed skyward, and then turned, and shot downwards, his large horn brimming with power, straight for the line of the four opposing Digimon. "Horn Buster!" 

"MegaSeadramon!" Michelle yelled out. MegaSeadramon reared up, and opened his cavernous jaws. "Mega Ice Blast!" A plume of bright blue energy leapt from his jaws, and slammed into MegaKabuterimon, knocking him far from his intended course. 

"Inconceivable!" Izzy yelled. "How could one inexperienced Ultimate do that to an experienced?"

"Shoulda thought of that before you started talking smack!" Brian laughed. "Go, MegaDramon!" 

"Dark Side Attach!" Twin cannons cycled open, and twin explosions of energy slammed into MegaKabuterimon, sending him airborne. 

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon, the large turtle-like Digimon with the large metal hammer, raised it over his head and slammed it down on the ground. A spark of energy was generated, and streaked straight for MegaDramon.

"Shadow Scythe!" Phantomon sliced out with his glittering scythe, and cut the energy spike in half, rendering it harmless. 

"Wing Blade!"

"Flower Cannon!" 

The first attack Cherrymon was knocked back from the impact, but the second, much smaller, Cherrymon absorbed without much damage. "Illusion Mist!" A kind of gentle, almost sinuous mist escaped from Cherrymon, and enshrouded the other Digimon that he had been fighting. The mist clouded their senses when they breathed it in, and made them sluggish and dumb. 

"Ultimate Slicer!" MegaDramon sliced with his cannons closed, and knocked the sleepy MegaKabuterimon and Lillymon back. 

"Thunder Javelin!" A bolt of lighting leapt from MegaSeadramon's jagged horn, and slammed into Garudamon, knocking her down and out. 

"Shadow Scythe!" A rush of air, a glint of polished steel, and Zudomon was down for the count. 

"What do you have to say to that?" Brian yelled, as the four Ultimate Digimon shrank back to nurse their wounds, at least for the moment. "Who are the 'real' Digidestined now?" 

"This makes no sense!" Tai said, frustrated, voicing the thoughts of all eight of the Digidestined. He turned to Izzy. "How can they be doing this!"

"I'm considering it." Izzy said, and pulled out his computer. His fingers began to fall like hail in a hailstorm across the keyboard. 

"Go! MagnaAngemon!" T.K. yelled, as he held aloft his silver Digivice. 

"You too, Angewoman!" Kari instructed. 

The two angel-type Digimon shot up, from where they had been standing vigilantly, behind their Digidestined, and appeared to stand up tall in midair. Before any of the Digimon could attack, a short purple sword-blade of energy elongated from MagnaAngemon's wrist. 

"Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon sliced through the air with the energy sword, cleaving a large circle. A large golden, spinning disk appeared out of nothingness, and quickly split down the center and opened, revealing a dazzling spectral limbo. 

Almost not knowing what he was doing, Jake suddenly grabbed his black Digivice from his belt, and threw it into the air. Nicole, Michelle, and Brian, almost against their will followed suit. The four Digivices appeared to float in midair, slowly spinning. Then they stopped spinning, and floated motionless, with their digital screens pointing towards each other. Suddenly a beam of black energy errupted from the front of each, and struck the Digivice in front of it, forming an outline of a black box, some two feet wide by two feet high. The box appeared to grow larger, as black energy poured forth from it. It kept growing, until it was at least twenty feet wide by twenty feet high. This large box suddenly moved, and appeared to settle over the four Ultimate Digimon who had bunched together during all of this, in an attempt to evade the Gate of Destiny attack, the Digimon of the four chosen Digidestined; those that Gennai called The Dark Digidestined. 

The box passed over the four Digimon, bathing them in dark energy; power the likes of which has never been recorded before. The box then broke apart, disappearing as quickly as it had come, and the four black Digivices floated back to their owners, who caught them. The screens of the Digivices suddenly burned with such black light and power it was painful to look at the light and the Digivice suddenly grew hot in their hands, as if too much power was surging through it. 

As both teams of Digidestined recoiled from the sudden grand-scale explosion of light and shockwaves of power were sent dancing off in a five-mile radius, the four Ultimate Digimon who had absorbed all of this tremendous power, began Digivolving at the same time. 

"Phantomon Warp-Digivolved to . . . Piedmon!"

"MegaSeadramon Warp-Digivolved to . . . MetalSeadramon!"

"MegaDramon Warp-Digivolved to . . . Machinedramon!"

"Cherrymon Warp-Digivolved to . . . Puppetmon!" 

Piedmon stood as a tall humanoid Digimon dressed in brightly colored clothes like a clown. He wore tall yellow boots, green pants, and a large red overcoat that tapered off at the ends to form a large Y-shaped figure. His face was covered with a black and white mask, and had bright orange hair bunched together towards the back of his head. Two blue ribbons sprang out from behind his shoulders, both of which had black skull insignias on them. White frills came out of the sleeves of his red coat, concealing several miniature daggers, as well as a large, white, fan-shaped one covering his neck. Strapped to his back were four black sword scabbards, with the scabbards all coming to one point in the middle of his back, with the golden sword hilts sticking out; one over each shoulder and the other two jutting out near his waist.

MetalSeadramon stood, or should it be floated, as he appeared to hover several feet off the ground in a coiled-up position. His entire fifty-plus foot long frame had been reinforced with Chrome Digizoid, the strongest metal in existence. His long tail split at the base, now two long, tapering tails, and while his face and jaws were still covered with golden metal, he had grown a large cannon-like apparatus which appeared to be a sort of a cannon. 

Machinedramon, the second to largest, was a large robotic dragon. He had two large clawed metallic feet, and a shortened tail. His right hand was a closed pointed cannon, while his left consisted of three long metallic claws. Over his long, snake-like head which twisted this way and that as he scanned his surroundings were two large cannons.

Puppetmon, the smallest but not the weakest, was last. He was basically a wooden marionette looking Digimon, having the cross shaped piece of wood generally held by the puppeteer to operate the puppet was attached to his back, and had four strings leading from it to each of his wooden arms and legs. Small cogs were on his chest, and slowly revolved, partially hidden by a blue colored vest of wood, in addition to his blue shorts. He had a long metal nose that appeared to be a small radio antenna, and his red cap with a small skull emblazoned on it, which partially covered his glaring eyes. He held a long handled metal hammer with an oversized cylinder-shaped head that looked like the bullet chamber of a revolver.

The eight Digidestined stared at the four Mega-Level Digimon with identical expressions that changed from astonishment to confusion and then to rage. 

Finally Tai whirled to Izzy. "How is it possible that—"

"The Dark Masters are the new Digidestined's Digimon? I don't know." He admitted. "But, don't forget what Gennai said about the prophecy which told of a time when darkness would cover the land, and undead Masters of Darkness would rise again, and take control. Well, the Dark Masters are the undead Masters of Darkness."

"But-but-but we defeated them!" Joe said, with his old habit of stuttering in times of trouble flaring up.

"Maybe not." Izzy said. "Maybe we did, and they just hatched again from Digieggs." 

"This is impossible!" Mimi wailed, hanging onto Matt.

"We have to fight them!" Tai said, making a fist. 

Matt rounded on him. "How? The only reason we defeated them before was because we took them on, one at a time. Don't you remember what would've happened the first time we fought them if Piximon hadn't shown up?"

"That was before." Tai said stoutly. "They've had plenty of experience."

"Speaking plainly in logic," Izzy said, "Even if we have two Mega Digimon, no amount of Ultimate Digimon can defeat a Mega."

"What about MagnaAngemon?" T.K. demanded, looking up at his angel-type Digimon floating in midair over head. 

"He didn't defeat Piedmon." Izzy countered. "He merely locked him within the Gate of Destiny."

"We can defeat them again, the same way!" Tai said, pounding his fist into his palm. "WarGreymon can use his Dramon Destroyers and rip apart MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon, and then MetalGarurumon can—"

"Tai, they won't fall for the same trick twice!" Matt said, his voice raising in attempt to get Tai to understand. "Can't you count? We have two Mega Digimon while they have four! And Piedmon proved he was more than a match for both of them at the same time!"

"So you think we should just give up?" Tai yelled.

"It's not a question about that!" Matt yelled back. "Half of our Digimon have already been in a fight that they've lost. We should just get out of here, regroup, and attack when we're at full strength."

"Um . . . at this point, I don't think we have that choice." Sora said, her voice quivering. Tai and Matt forgot their argument for the moment, and quickly turned to the newly reborn Dark Masters. 

The four of them stood, brimming with power as they glared down at the eight Digidestined. Rage and dark power burned like a brand set aflame in their minds, as they suddenly remembered the ordeal they had gone through and how they had suffered a humiliating defeat by the Digidestined long ago. 

The four Digidestined stood right behind their newly-Digivolved Mega Digimon, bodies rigid, also glaring at the other eight Digidestined. 

"Now we'll see who the 'real' Digidestined are!" Brian yelled out suddenly, breaking the deadly silence that had crept up on the group of them. 

"And you will not be leaving," Piedmon said, laughing, "Not until the final curtain has descended upon your final performance!" 

"Playtime isn't over yet." Puppetmon said, sounding almost like an angry five-year old kid as he brandished his long handled metal hammer dangerously.

"Leaving so soon?" Machinedramon said in his deep voice, growling deeply in his throat. "I wouldn't hear of it."

"You should've left when you had the chance." MetalSeadramon said, sounding like a barroom roughneck, rearing up out of his coiled position. "Now you're sunk!"

Tai quickly turned to the other seven Digidestined. "WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon can hold them off while we escape."

"How are they supposed to escape?" Kari demanded. As always, she thought of others before she thought of herself. "Piximon won't be here to save us this time!" 

"I-I don't know." Tai faltered. "But what other choice do we have?" Sora slipped her hand under his, offering a small shred of comfort and reassurance. 

"Looks like you're up a certain creek without a paddle!" Jake yelled. "Go get'em, Piedmon!"

"My pleasure." Piedmon laughed. "The curtain is falling already on their final performance!"

Tai suddenly stiffened his resolve and turned to his metallic armor-clad Mega Digimon. "Let'em know we mean business, WarGreymon!" he yelled, echoing what he had said long ago when they had first faced off with the Dark Masters. 

"MetalGarurumon!" Matt instructed, "Teach that joker a lesson he'll never forget!" 

With two loud growls of rage, both WarGremon and MetalGarurumon leapt into the air, ready for the attack, just as they did long ago.

"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated a vast red sphere of energy between his outstretched claws, and threw it overhead at Piedmon, who easily dodged it, sidestepping to one side and laughing it as the energy sphere passed right by him, completely wasted.

"Ice Wolf Claw!" A blue spike of ice erupted from MetalGarurumon's jaws and flew like an arrow let loose from the string. It flew straight for Piedmon, who drew one of his golden-hilted sword, and cleaved the large ice spike neatly in two, letting the glittering shards of ice fall to the ground, and quickly sheathed his sword again. 

Piedmon then jumped up high and spun in midair, drawing his four swords as he went, two in each hand. "Trump Sword!" He threw all four swords cleanly, and they slammed, point first, into both MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, knocking them back, and then arced high into the sky, and flew back to Piedmon, who caught them expertly and resheathed them. 

"Have we not already enacted this particular scene?" he laughed. 

"We have to strike now!" Tai said, not even bothering to mask the urgency in his voice. "We have to hit them with everything we've got!"

"Then what?" Matt yelled. "We do that, our Digimon are drained of energy, and they destroy us all! There is still time to escape!"

"Wait. Maybe MagnaAngemon—" Tai began, but Matt immediately cut him off.

"Didn't you hear what I said before?" he demanded. "They won't fall for that, especially Piedmon!" 

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon placed his large black claws on the end of his golden gauntlets against each other, above his head, and began to spin around, standing upright. Energy rippled around in the air as he spun faster, and then launched himself vertically for the long, sinuous form of MetalSeadramon.

MetalSeadramon, knowing very well what would happen if he did not act, reared up, his half-open jaws brimming with icy blue energy. "Giga Ice Blast!" A large explosion of chill blue energy exploded from his jaws and slammed into the oncoming spinning form of WarGreymon, and quickly enveloped him in icy shards, freezing him in mid-attack. He then fell from the air like a large boulder, slammed into the ground, and bounced a few times before coming to a rest, a giant ice cube. 

"Vulcan's Hammer." Zudomon, who by this time had recovered from the beating he had taken, raised his large hammer overhead with both hands, and it fell soundly in the middle of the block of ice that contained the frozen WarGreymon. A large crack appeared down the middle of the ice block, and fell apart in two large pieces, allowing WarGreymon to climb shakily to his feet. 

"Ice Wolf Claw!" Several small silos opened among MetalGarurumon's robotic body, and several missiles erupted from them, and streaked straight for Puppetmon. 

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon swung out with his long-handled hammer, and small energy orbs leapt from the hammer and these orbs blew apart the missiles before they could hit.

"Horn Buster!"

"Wing Blade!"

MegaKabuterimon's large horn glittered, and a large lightning bolt of energy erupted from the tip of it, just as a large flying bird of fire was created by Garudamon and sent flying towards the midst of the Dark Masters. The lightning bolt of energy slammed into Piedmon, followed almost immediately by the firebird. A huge cloud of flying grass and dirt was thrown up into the air, but as it cleared, Piedmon still stood, unhurt and unmarked. 

"Giga Cannon!" Machinedramon's twin cannons, perched on his shoulders, glittered, and two large yellow explosions of energy exploded from them, and slammed into the midst of the Digidestined, scattering them. 

As Tai recovered and was helping Sora to her feet, he yelled, "C'mon, WarGreymon! Take care of them!" 

"Nova Force!" WarGreymon leapt into the air, generating a vast crimson sphere of energy between his outstretched claws, over his head. He launched the sphere straight for Machinedramon, who was not fast enough to get out of the way, and absorbed the full-force of the blow, slamming him partially into the ground. 

"River of Power!" The large cannon-apparatus atop of MetalSeadramon's jaws glowed from within with a strange blue light. Then a thick beam of blue power shot out from it, and slammed heavily into WarGreymon, knocking him back. 

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewoman had forged an arrow out of pure white energy, and as she gestured, a long white bow grew from the wrist of her right hand. She placed the arrow on the string, and let it loose. The arrow flew true, and it slammed straight into Puppetmon, and he grimaced from the blow. 

"Clown Trick!" Piedmon held out his hands together and formed a sort of a gun with his spindly fingers. Energy rippled around his hands and he shot it out, like a torpedo forged of energy, and it slammed into Angewoman, knocking her into orbit. 

Strings suddenly shot out of Puppetmon's wooden fingers, and snared WarGreymon, attaching to his arms, legs, and head, effectively turning him into a string puppet. "He's got me strung up!" WarGreymon yelled as a warning. Then he leapt into the air. 

"Mega Claw!" His claws on his right gauntlet glinted, and he swung out at MetalGarurumon, knocking him back. 

"MetalGarurumon!" Matt yelled, as his Digimon slammed heavily into the ground. Just as Zudomon and Lillymon were running to try to restrain him, WarGreymon generated a large ball of energy from within his outstretched claws. 

"Nova Force!" 

The sphere of energy slammed into Zudomon, literally knocking him into the air. Lillymon was sent spinning airborne from the shockwaves of energy. 

"Giga Missile!" A large 'smart' missile shot out of MetalGarurumon's robotic chest from within a hidden silo, and shot straight into Puppetmon, breaking his concentration and freeing WarGreymon, who took to the air at once. 

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon swung his hammer, and slammed it into the ground, and a large sheet of energy was generated, and slammed into Zudomon, who had not quite recovered from the beating he had just taken from WarGreymon, and so he devolved back to Gomamon.

MagnaAngemon and Angewoman flew straight for Piedmon, rippling with celestial energy. "Clown Trick!" Piedmon held his hands in a circle over his head, and from within it was generated a circle of fire. He threw it, and it expanded and caught both Angewoman and MagnaAngemon within the center, and trapped them within it, and the ring suddenly blazed with energy, forcing them to devolve back to Salamon and Patamon. T.K. and Kari ran over to their weakened Digimon, and hugged them, watching MegaKabuterimon, Lillymon, and Garudamon group together, being, along with the two Mega Digimon, the only ones left.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon had taken to the air, and suddenly stopped and banked, and generated a large firebird, which was sent streaking down straight into the midst of the Dark Masters. 

"Giga Cannon!" Two explosions of white energy shot from Machinedramon's cannons. These spheres of energy shot straight through the firebird, breaking it apart and rendering it useless. The energy projectiles kept going and slammed directly into Garudamon, knocking her back and forcing her to devolve back to Biyomon.

"Flip you for it?" MegaKabuterimon asked Lillymon, as they were the only ones left to fight. 

"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon rose up, her green wings beating furiously, bringing her two hands together, energy rippling between them. A green sphere of energy flew from between them. 

"Horn Buster!" A bolt of power shot out from MegaKabuterimon's horn, and at the same time, both attacks slammed into the coiled up form of MetalSeadramon. Both attacks were rendered useless against the chrome digizoid armor covering MetalSeadramon for an armor. 

River of Power!" Icy blue energy gathered within the cannon-like apparatus just above his jaws as he reared up, and suddenly shot out like a cannonball. The beam of power streaked across MegaKabuterimon and Lillymon, knocking them back, and devolving them back to the rookie forms of Tentomon and Palmon, who wearily collapsed onto each other, even as Izzy and Mimi ran to comfort them.

WarGreymon, who had during this brief exchange been floating high in the air with MetalGarurumon, turned to the cybernetic wolf. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe a cold shoulder is needed." MetalGarurumon growled back, glaring at the four Dark Masters who had regrouped and were smirking up at them, daring them to make the first move. 

MetalGarurumon glided on his metallic wings. "One frozen sea snake, coming up!" 

"Giga Cannon!" Twin explosions of energy lanced from Machinedramon, straight for MetalGarurumon, but he turned and easily dodged them, and the two energy projections whizzed harmlessly off into the distance. 

"Ice Wolf Claw!" Several hatches slid open over MetalGarurumon's cybernetic body, and several ice rockets shot out of them, streaking straight for MetalSeadramon. He tried to glide in his coiled up position out of the way, but for once, it was proved that size does not always matter, as he was too slow, and all of the ice rockets hit him head on, encasing him totally in a thick sheet of ice, rendering him, for the moment, immobile. 

Michelle, who had until this time been silent along with the other four Digidestined, suddenly cried. "MetalSeadramon!" 

Piedmon, who had drawn a sword and moved to cut through the sheet of ice that was rendering MetalSeadramon like an ice sculpture, was suddenly knocked aside by the sharp claws of WarGreymon. 

"Giga Cannon!" Several explosions of energy shot out from Machinedramon, and slammed repeatedly into WarGreymon, forcing him back.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon seized the cross-shaped piece of wood from where it was attached to his back, and threw it like a discus. It spun cleanly through the air, and slammed heavily into MetalGarurumon's snout, knocking him back as well. 

Piedmon had recovered himself as well as his dignity, and he stood with the other three Dark Masters, as he had been able to slice away the ice from the metallic serpent with a few well-aimed strokes of his blades, freeing MetalSeadramon.

MetalSeadramon moved to attack, but Piedmon held up one hand, and MetalSeadramon respectfully backed of. Piedmon glided on thin air, hovering perhaps a foot off the ground, to the head of the Dark Masters. 

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, who by this time had recovered from the last attacks. They stood tall in mid air, some twenty feet from Piedmon and the other Dark Masters, and some ten feet above them. They looked strong and full of power, but in reality they were tired and drained of much of their power. Tai and Matt, indeed all of the other of the original Digidestined, were looking up with hope radiating from them, looking at the last two shreds of hope they had to stop the Dark Masters, as well as those they thought to be the Dark Digidestined. 

"Go get'em MetalGarurumon!" Matt yelled.

"C'mon WarGreymon, take care of this clown!" Tai added.

"Nova Force!" Energy was gathered within the confines of WarGreymon's claws, and he threw the sphere of energy with as much force as he could.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon reared up, with his head back, energy gathering within his half-open jaws, and he suddenly threw it forward, and the incredible pent-up energies leapt forward. 

The two incredible energies coalesced into one, and a large luminous ball of energy flew straight for Piedmon. Piedmon leapt, and the sphere of powerful energy passed under him, also hurting none of the other Dark Masters. After settling back to the ground, Piedmon leapt again, and turned in mid-air, drawing his four swords as he went. 

"Trump Sword!" The four swords were expertly thrown, even better than the world's best knife thrower. They flew straight, and slammed first into WarGreymon, and then into MetalGarurumon. WarGreymon groaned, energy rippling across his armor where the swords had sliced across him, and devolved back to Agumon, falling to the ground. MetalGarurumon also groaned from the energy overload flowing across his cybernetic body, and he too devolved back to the rookie form of Gabumon and fell to the ground, drained of all energy. 

Piedmon settled back down on the ground, the four swords sheathed once more, just in front of the other three Dark Masters. "It appears we have out-performed you." He said, and laughed, and was joined in with the dark laughter of the other Dark Masters. "Now, which among you would like to be the next one to make their grand exit?" 

Tai gritted his teeth, but for once, he had no bold comeback. It really looked like the end for the Digidestined. He took Sora's hand again, and she and he and the their other six companions stood their ground, their hard gazes of anger bent upon the Dark Masters, those who had beaten their eight Digimon.

As for the other Digidestined, they did not really know what to say or do. They had not really expected to win, but now that they had won, what next? Darkota had said that the Digidestined would have to be defeated, and now they were defeated.

Nicole turned to Jake, and whispered in his ear. "Now what? We aren't actually going to kill the Digidestined are we?" 

__

To be continued . . .


	3. Default Chapter Title

Jake turned to Nicole, and their eyes locked. "We can't do that. Well, since we control our Digimon, they won't destroy the Digidestined." He held out his Digivice. "C'mon, Piedmon." Piedmon turned at his voice, and looked at Jake. Even though he was still the leader of the Dark Masters, he was Jake's Digimon, and he and the other Dark Masters would listen to the Digidestined, until the end. "We've taken out their Digimon, so—" Jake stopped suddenly. He heard a loud rush of jet engines overhead, and several robotic Digimon, looking like a can of beans with legs and long tubular arms, with a rocket engine strapped to its back.

One of these strange new Digimon ran over to where Jake and the other Digidestined were standing and said, "We're Mechanorimon, sent by Darkota, to take the prisoners to his castle. Come with us for further instructions."

"What do you—" Jake started, but the Mechanorimon walked away. The other Mechanorimon moved swiftly over to where the other Digidestined were standing, and swiftly bound them with chains, separating them from their weakened Digimon.

Even Brian, who liked the Digidestined least of all of them, was startled by this sight. "Why would he have them chained up?" he asked, to no one in particular. "We defeated them already, so—"

"I don't know." Jake admitted, "But I don't like it. We'll have to see what Darkota has to say about this." 

The Mechanorimon that had approached them before came up to them again. "With your Digimon, come with us."

"How?" Brian demanded. "It's not like we have wings."

The large robot stared down at him with its single reddish eye for a moment. "You will be able to fly there, riding atop the one called MetalSeadramon." Then he moved away and joined the other half a dozen Mechanorimon, who were waiting patiently with the eight Digidestined and their Digimon in toll, wrapped in chains, the end of the chains held firmly in their long spindly fingers. 

Jake moved to say something, but by that time, the Mechanorimon had joined together in a group, and their rockets ignited as one, and they took to the air, and waited patiently for the four Digidestined to follow. 

MetalSeadramon glided down, only inches from the ground, and waited patiently for the Digidestined to board. They looked at one another, and shrugged. Brian picked up the duffel bag, and got slowly on top of MetalSeadramon, and stood on top of his metal back, somewhat uncomfortably. There was not really any fear of falling off, as there was at least a dozen feet in between MetalSeadramon's sides. Michelle, Jake and Nicole slowly followed suit, until all four of the Digidestined were standing atop MetalSeadramon's back. He rose with as much speed as would be allowed, and joined with the other Dark Masters, also airborne, the eight of them rose up to the level of the Mechanorimon, who were waiting with the captured Digidestined in tow.

The Mechanorimon shot through the air, flying fairly fast, but none of the Dark Masters had any problems keeping up with them, and they flew side by side for at least an hour. 

Jake, who had sat down along with the others, was once more holding hands with Nicole, who was sitting very close to Jake, both of their folded legs pressing against each other. High up as they were, Nicole in her short jean shorts, was practically shivering from the cold. Jake put his arm around her and held her close, and warmed her up somewhat. Michelle caught Nicole's eye, and nodded her approval. Nicole smiled, and gently laid her head against Jake.

Finally the Mechanorimon saw the point they were watching for, for they began to adjust the angle of their flight and slowly prepared to land. Under MetalSeadramon, who had taken up the lead of the four of the Dark Masters, there suddenly was a large dark castle, seemingly carved out of an entire mountain. It had an evil look, and made all of the Digidestined, especially the eight original Digidestined, who, being bound and knowing that their destination was somewhere within that castle, uneasy. Unlike the new four Digidestined, they knew all to well who had used to live in that castle, for all of them, save Kari, had been there at least twice before. It was the castle where Myotismon had dwelt, before he had gone to Earth by the great gates that opened to a portal, buried somewhere in the deepest dungeon.

By this time, the Mechanorimon were directly overhead of the castle, so they stopped in mid-air, and began to fall, not very fast, but fall they did. MetalSeadramon and the other Dark Masters paused, and began to follow, going even slower than the Mechanorimon where, as while MetalSeadramon cared somewhat for the comfort of the Digidestined he bore, the Mechanorimon cared nothing about that. 

The Mechanorimon reached the tallest tower of the castle, with a sort of a turret some forty feet across, and they landed silently and slowly on the cold stone of the top of the tower, and let down their prisoners, and none too gently, either. 

MetalSeadramon went first, and landed down closer to the roof of the tower. He let his twin tails drape down to touch the surface, and the Digidestined slid down his back, almost like a slide, and slide as gently as they could to the hard rooftop. 

MetalSeadramon once more resumed his coiled up position, and one by one, the other Dark Masters also landed silently on the rooftop. Just as the Dark Masters had settled, and the four Digidestined had climbed to their feet, the entire stone roof beneath their feet slowly but surely began to drop down, into the depths of the tower. For several long uncomfortable moments, the stone beneath their feet still feel down the inside of the tower, standing in pitch-blackness. 

Finally, the stone emerged from the inside of the tower, and they emerged into what seemed like an immense stone cavern, which had torches hanging in brackets on the walls every half a dozen feet or so. Tall pillars were placed here and there, seemingly holding up the roof. The stone that all of the Digidestined and the Mechanorimon and the Dark Masters had been riding on touched the ground of the cavern. 

Silently, the Mechanorimon moved quickly off of the slab of stone, dragging their prisoners roughly behind them. The four Digidestined slowly moved off of the stone slab, followed by the Dark Masters, who were almost to the point of swaggering. 

"You have done well, Digidestined." A voice sudden erupted from the seemingly never-ending shadows towards the front of the cavern. All eyes, both human and Digimon, were suddenly riveted to the spot where the voice had come from. Like some dark angel, Darkota drifted out from within the shadows and into the light. 

"That's Darkota?" Jake heard Izzy ask, almost bewildered. 

It was almost as if a light suddenly went on in Jake's head, and he immediately grew suspicious. If Darkota was actually good, why would he be hiding around in shadows? Black usually signified only evil, but then again there was the case of Batman. He stepped forward, walking past the rest of the Digidestined and moved to stand next to the chained up Digidestined and their Digimon, who looked up at him as if he was their last hope. "Darkota, what are you going to do with these Digidestined?"

Darkota suddenly seemed to grow angry. Jake felt a sort of a chill surrounding him, almost as if all light and warmth was being drawn from around him, and was somehow being channeled to Darkota. Darkota managed to calm down, and said, as if talking to a five-year old, "I am going to arrange for their imminent destruction, not that it is any concern of yours."

The other Digidestined apparently finally caught wind of the fact that perhaps Darkota was not really on the up and up, and that he was only using them to do his dirty work. They stepped up quickly to stand beside Jake, and the Dark Masters followed suit, looming up behind the Digidestined like huge, deadly bodyguards. 

"Why not let us do the job for you?" Brian asked, clenching his fists. Although he still did not care much for the Digidestined, he was not going to stand around and let anyone jerk his chain like that. 

"Yeah, Darkota." Michelle said. "They're our spoils of war. We're entitled to a share, certainly."

Darkota again seemed to grow larger and darker as his wrath grew, but somehow managed to not let any of it show on his face. "That may be so, Digidestined, but now as the prophecy is full-filled, you are no longer needed here. So allow me to finish these fools," he pointed with one slender chalk-white finger at the chained up pile of the original Digidestined and their Digimon, "And then I shall send you back to your world. You will be wanting to go back, I suppose."

"Certainly . . ." Jake said, and let his voice trail off. Picking it up again, he said, "But I am afraid that we must insist."

The entire room suddenly felt as if the air-conditioning had been thrown on, full blast, as even more light and warmth was drawn to the now wrath-filled Darkota. These outwardly fools had tried his patience for the last time. He would only allow only a certain amount of foolishness and outright dishonor, and they had used up that allocation long ago. The very thought that they should dare to ask for a reward was almost beyond his comprehension. Wasn't serving such a power like himself a reward in itself? 

Of course, as Darkota was filled with self-importance and biggetry, the thought never occurred to him that anyone would oppress him, as Jake and the others soon found out. 

Darkota drew himself up, until he appeared to tower over them all, before saying harshly, "I am the master of this world, and I give all commands. These Digidestined will not be yours to destroy; only I am titled to such an honor." He stopped, and then it suddenly dawned on him the reason that the Digidestined were being so adamant. "If you persist more, I shall be forced to destroy you and your Digidestined as well."

That did it. The Dark Masters tensed up like a bowstring, as well as the other Digidestined. Jake suddenly yelled, "Then we'll fight it out!" The Dark Masters leapt over the Digidestined, and landed some ten feet away in front of Darkota. 

Darkota looked on the Dark Masters at first with an expression of astonishment, and then with laughter. "Do you actually think that you four are a match for me?" he asked, his voice dripping with contempt.

"That remains to be seen," Piedmon said, his icy gaze bent on Darkota. "Shall we begin?" 

Darkota's dark laughter filled the vast cavern, and echoed strangely off it's walls. "Do you fools actually think you can harm me?" he retreated a few steps. "You've put yourselves in a hole which you cannot get out of!" he gestured grandly with his right arm. "Meet my Digimon, the new Dark Masters."

Four reddish points of light suddenly snapped open in the growing darkness behind him, two appearing side by side, another pair of eyes a head taller than the others, and the last pair of eyes even taller still. A sort of robotic laugh emitted from within the darkness. Darkota seemed to glide to one side, to allow room for his Digimon to come forth from the darkness and into the light. 

The first one to emerge was a rather tall and well build green-skinned android Digimon. His massive fists were clenched, and bolts appeared to be screwed into his knuckles. He wore spike-studded boots and black pants with chains and rings hanging off, and his face was covered with a blank yellow colored faceplate. A large single-headed short ax was in a sheath over his left shoulder. 

"This is Boltmon, an android created by one of my many servants. He is the leader of my little band of supreme Digimon, and none can stand up against his tomahawk."

The next Digimon stepped out, who was about the same build and height as Boltmon, except his skin was a much darker shade of green. His hair was silvery metallic, and flowed like mercury, and covering most of his body were steel plates some studded with small spikes, and some not. He cared a long bone which looked like it was made out of iron. Two black horns stuck out of his head, like a ram's.

"This is IronOgremon, the Mega form of Orgremon. His 'Iron Cudgel' attack will lay his enemies flat." Darkota said. 

The next Digimon to emerge was larger still than IronOgremon or Boltmon. It was a creature on all fours, with black wings like a bat protruding from its shoulders, with a mask of steel, and eagle's talons for front legs, and tiger's paws for hind legs. Its body was of a lion. 

"This is Gryphonmon, and mystical animal Digimon that one of my faithful subjects found on Earth."

The last Digimon to come out of the darkness was much larger than all of the others. Its tree-trunk sized feet created tremors in the ground as it moved. It was an enormous wooly mammoth, except covered with bones on the outside. Two black fans took place of ears, and a golden skull and trunk, hiding two large red eyes. His trunk was long and heavy, and its tusks bent towards the trunk.

"This is SkullMammothmon, the largest of my group of supreme Digimon, and his Spiral Bone Crusher attack can bring down even the most powerful of Digimon." Darkota stopped, and then looked back upon the Dark Masters with contempt. "Do you still wish to fight them, even now?"

"You know the answer to that one, without bothering to ask." Machinedramon said.

As the two groups of Mega Digimon faced off, Darkota turned to the Mechanorimon, still standing patiently by, with their bound captives. "That that rubble to the fire."

Brian turned, drawing his black Digivice as he went. "Machinedramon!" he yelled. "Stop the Mechanorimon!"

"Giga Cannon!" Several bright explosions of energy shot out from Machinedramon's cannons, but not aimed at Darkota's four Digimon. The Mechanorimon turned upon hearing the sound, but as they did so, the incredible energy hit them, one after the other, vaporizing them on the spot. 

"Piedmon!" Jake yelled, holding up his Digivice. "Free the Digidestined!"

Piedmon leapt, and turned, away from the four Mega Digimon he was about to fight. Drawing his four swords at incredible speed, he threw them. "Trump Sword!" 

The swords flew true, and sliced neatly through the chains which bound the Digidestined and the Digimon together, before the four of them circled up high into the air like a squadron of fighter planes, and flew back to Piedmon, who effortlessly caught them and resheathed them.

As he saw the Digidestined and their Digimon free themselves, Darkota felt as if he would explode from rage. He never remembered feeling so enraged before. "Attack! Destroy them all!" he yelled to his four Mega Digimon. 

"I'd think twice about that one." MetalSeadramon said, rearing up, his head close to the ceiling. 

"You'll lose the game if you play with us." Puppetmon said, wielding his long-handled hammer dangerously.

"Tomahawk Knuckle!" Energy burned bright in Boltmon's fist as he punched out with it, and a large energy projectile was sent flying, straight for the Dark Masters. 

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon swung his hammer, and the head connected with the energy projectile, rendering it harmless.

"Spiral Bone Crusher!" SkullMammothmon moved, far faster than any of the Dark Masters would have thought possible. Energy grew within his trunk, and appeared to be harnessed to his two tusks which were very close to his trunk. Energy suddenly sprung forth from his trunk, and the resulting explosion knocked all of the Dark Masters back, forcing even the mammoth Machinedramon and MetalSeadramon to fall back several feet.

Tai and the other Digidestined, who by this time was able to free himself of what remained of the chains which bound him, was watching the beginning battle, and his Digivice began to glow. He unclipped the device from his belt, and looked at it, deciding. The Dark Digidestined were at fault for allowing the Digidestined to be captured, but then again, as Gennai had said Darkota had tricked them. And now, they were fighting him. 

He turned to Sora, who went to his side and took his hand. He looked deeply into her eyes, and for a moment, he was lost into them and into the love he and Sora shared. But he remembered what was at hand, and asked, "What do you think? Should we help them?"

Sora bent her head and looked at her feet. Tai cupped his hand and raised her head so that they looked in each other's eyes again. "We have to. They're fighting our battle over there." They kissed briefly for a moment, and as Tai moved away, he held his Digivice over the mostly-recovered Agumon.

"I'm on it, Tai." Agumon said, as he leapt into the energy showering out of the center of the Digivice. 

"Agumon Warp-Digivolved to . . . WarGreymon!" 

"Gabumon Warp-Digivolved to . . . MetalGarurumon!" 

The two newly Digivolved Mega Digimon rushed into the fray of battle, passing right by Darkota. He appeared almost lost in thought, but the look on his face suggested that he already knew who was going to win this battle, and it wasn't the Digidestined.

Just as WarGreymon was going to launch his Terra Force attack straight for Boltmon, a powerful and terrible voice shouted, "STOP!!!"  


Amazingly, the ten Mega Digimon froze in what they were doing, and turned as one to the source of the sound. Darkota turned as well, but he already knew who it was even as he turned, and a growl of rage escaped his throat. 

There standing tall was a tall muscular young man with brownish-blond hair, wearing what appeared to be brown monk's robes. A large sheathed sword was at his side. 

"Gennai!" Darkota said, practically spitting out the word with disgust. 

"Gennai?" All the Digidestined said in perfect unison, their jaws practically falling open. This certainly was not the wizened old man they once knew as Gennai.

"I have returned at last, Darkota." He said in a deep voice. "I have finally been able to recover my life force from once which you took from me, forcing me to revert to the guise of an old, bent man with eyes the size of baseballs. And now, you have carried on with this deed long enough!" 

"Do any of you, even you Gennai, think you can defeat me?" Darkota said, suddenly appearing to grow in size and power. He towered tall over all of them, and his hands like grasping talons reached out for him. 

"Take care, Darkota!" Gennai yelled, backing away from the groping hands and drawing the glittering broadsword with one hand. "This is the sword of Enubian, forged at the creation of the Digital World, and I have kept it hidden long. It was rumored to carry the power of the Creators, the ones who created the Digiworld, within it's enchanted blade. Would you care to see if the rumor is true?"

"Even if it is true, where is it written that a being so powerful as I would fall before it?" Darkota asked, and reached out again for Gennai, his eyes brimming with dark red light. "I will destroy you once and for all!"

"Then begone!" Gennai said. He turned completely around and swung with his sword, the blade brimming with incredible power. Turning back to where he began turning, the entire sword now burning with power, the sword flew, straight and true. It struck Darkota straight in the chest, and the blade buried itself deep into his chest. A bright explosion of power erupted as it penetrated his body. Darkota roared more in anger than pain, but then stumbled back.

"Now Digidestined!" Gennai yelled over Darkota's yells. "Strike with all the power you may!" 

"Nova Force!" WarGreymon generated a vast sphere of reddish orange energy between his outstretched arms and threw it as hard as he could, directly for Darkota.

"Giga Missile!" A large missile shot out of a large silo that opened up in MetalGarurumon's chest and streaked straight for Darkota.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon yanked off his cross-shaped piece of wood that was attached to his back, and threw it like a discus with as much force as he could. 

"Giga Cannon!" Twin explosions of yellow energy exploded from the twin cannons on Machinedramon's shoulders.

"River of Power!" Incredible energy brimmed in the large cannon on MetalSeadramon's nose, and a bright beam of bluish energy shot out from within, and shot for Darkota. 

"Trump Sword!" Piedmon jumped high into the air, and tuned, drawing all four of his swords. He threw them as hard as he could, and all four flew in a perfect group straight for Darkota. 

Piedmon's four swords stuck deep within Darkota's chest, and slammed him back. The last five attacks, probably helped by Gennai, combined to form an immense sphere of energy with bolts of power shooting out like lightning, and this sphere slammed straight into Darkota, overloading him with power. He yelled out one last time, and dissolved before their eyes, fragmenting into small bits which rapidly disappeared. 

"And so ends the reign of Dakota." Gennai said. But as the fragments finally faded, the walls suddenly rippled with dark energy. "This battle has broken the Digital World. It will be reconfigured again, and so you Digidestined must leave, almost immediately. You may take five minutes to say good-bye, but we then must part." Then Gennai's eyes twinkled. "But I will not say that this is the last time you will see your Digimon, and so it will not be."

Several tears were shed as both sets of Digidestined said good-bye to their Digimon yet the second time, but for the new Digidestined it was the first time saying good-bye, and very painful. Even Brian, although tried to cover it up, was really quite saddened. 

"You must go now." Gennai said. "But all of you will be coming back to the Digital World. Even Darkota, dark as he was, was not the last of the evil in the Digiworld."

The Twelve Digidestined and the Twelve Digimon parted, eyes still moistened with tears. The room that they were in and Gennai and the Digimon began to fade. 

As Jake stood with the other Digidestined, holding hands with Nicole, he glanced down at her, and they smiled at each other. At least, Jake reflected, they still had each other, although he was mentally kicking himself for being tricked by Darkota. As the Digimon disappeared, he knew deep in his heart, this was only the end of the beginning of the adventures in the Digiworld.


End file.
